Vokrri on Visoki Decani land: The Constitutional Court made a mistake in this case

The Kosovo Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government Administration, Arber Vokrri, described the 2016 decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court confirming Visoki Decani monastery’s ownership of 24 hectares of land as a „mistake“. Although it is a final and binding decision, Vokrri claims that „it cannot be implemented harshly“, and called for a dialogue with the Serbian Orthodox Church.

A total of eight years have passed since Constitutional Court of Kosovo, after a 16-year long court process, confirmed the decision of the Supreme Court of Kosovo on the monastery’s ownership of this property.

Despite the decision and numerous requests from the ambassadors of Western countries, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Diocese, the Municipality of Decani refuses to register the land in the cadastre. Representatives of the central government, on the other hand, are not calling on local government representatives to fulfill their obligation, instead, they publicly express their disagreement with the court’s ruling, questioning its legitimacy, alleging that the land was allocated to the monastery during the Milošević regime.

Arber Vokrri repeated the same allegations in Budimir Ničić’s „Slobodno Srpski“ show on Sunday.

„It would not be entirely right for the Constitutional Court of Kosovo to approve the decisions made by Milošević’s government without a proper investigation,“ says the Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government Administration.

He claims that the Kosovo government does not wish to „dominate the monastery and the Serbian Orthodox Church“, adding that „the conditions under which things developed even before the war must be taken into account“.

This deputy minister says that municipalities have their own powers, and that the central government, specifically the Ministry of Administration, cannot influence that, but it can help implement decisions or issue a warning.

Vokrri, however, failed to answer the question as to whether the ministry issued a warning to the municipality for not implementing the decision.

„The decision should be examined“

Moreover, he alleged that the decision to allocate land is „political“ and that it does not only apply to the municipality of Decani.

To Ničić’s remark that the Constitutional Court is not a political institution, Vokrri replied – „well, it is not, but it makes decisions related to politics“.

„When it comes to the decision that was made during Milošević’s rule, at least it should be examined a little. The Constitutional Court should operate and it should be respected, they give their word – as they see a case at the legal level, but it cannot always be implemented harshly, instead, history, the will of the people and the party should be taken into account – be it the SOC or anyone. It’s not that simple,“ he said.

Vokrri calls for „sincere dialogue“ with the SOC

In response to the journalist’s statement that the Constitutional Court has made a final decision and concluded that everything is in accordance with the law, Vokrri underscored:

„I think that the Constitutional Court made a mistake in that case.“

In addition to calling for an „examination“ of the decision, Vokrri called on „an honest dialogue with the Serbian Orthodox Church.“

When asked whether the church should give up its property, Vokrri repeated „well, that property was given to it by Milošević“.

„It was not the property of that church before that, that has to be taken into account,“ says Vokrri.

700 ha of land taken from the monastery in 1946

Seven hundred hectares of land were seized from the Visoki Decani Monastery in 1946. However, the state of Serbia returned 24 hectares to the monastery in 1997. The monastery, when combined with the twenty hectares it previously owned, then owned 55 hectares of land.

This return of 24 hectares was regularly recorded in the cadaster, but since 1999, the local Kosovo authorities do not recognize that this land belongs to the monastery. Although the monastery continues to use the land, municipal authorities are beginning to challenge the ownership of the monasteries over these 24 hectares.

UNMIK then decided that the monastery would continue to use this property until the dispute is settled in court.

In May 2016, after 16 years of wrangling over the ownership of monastery land in the Decani municipality, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo delivered a decision confirming the previous decision of the Supreme Court from 2012. This affirmed the ownership rights of the Visoki Decani Monastery over the 24 hectares of disputed land.

This decision led to polarizing reactions within Kosovar society, with the most negative responses coming from the leadership of the Decani municipality. They have, until the present day, refused to implement the court’s decision and register the land in the cadaster as monastery property.

No ASM without recognition

During his guest appearance on “Slobodno Srpski”, Arber Vokrri, also commented on the obligations of Belgrade and Pristina stemming from the Brussels dialogue.

Speaking about the formation of the ASM, Vokrri reminded that in last year’s agreement it was confirmed that it was Pristina’s obligation, but he also said that Belgrade assumed the obligation to de facto recognize Kosovo.

He declared that Kosovo is ready to fulfill all obligations, noting that one obligation cannot be fulfilled without enforcing other points of the agreement.

On the regulation – sometimes you have to take bold decisions and your partners will adjust

Speaking about the method of implementation of the regulation of the Central Bank of Kosovo, which removed the dinar from payment circulation, Vokrri, despite criticism from the United States of America, repeated the position of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, that relations between this country and Pristina are not threatened.

When asked „where does Kosovo garner strength to say no to the Americans“, Vokrri replied:

„I wouldn’t say we have any great strength, especially towards the US, but sometimes you have to take some bold decisions, and then friends and partners will adjust to that in the meantime.“

On the other hand, he denied the allegations and „conspiracy theories“ that it was a coordinated action of the US and Kosovo governments.