The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Avdullah Hoti will be staying at the Decani Monastery today, Hoti’s cabinet announced earlier this morning.
Hoti’s visit arrives after days of tension between the monastery clergy and local authorities who insist on building a transit road near the UNESCO-protected monastery. The Diocese of Raska and Prizren has repeatedly warned that the roadworks are not in line with the Law on Special Protective Zones, such as the one around the monastery Visoki Decani, which explicitly prohibits such activities.
Following the reaction of the clergy and the Diocese, which sent an appeal to the international community after the works were continued, the Kosovo government announced that it would respect the laws and requested the suspension of the works from the local authorities.
The mayor of Decani, Bashkim Ramosaj objected to this decision of the government, sending a series of requests related to the abolition of restrictions in the Law on SPZ and the Law on National Parks. According to him, these laws endanger the economic development of the municipality of Decani and reportedly created a „catastrophic situation in this municipality.“
In addition to these legal acts, Ramosaj also opposes the decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court approving the decision of the Kosovo Supreme Court to confirm the ownership of the Decani monastery over 24 hectares of land in the vicinity of the monastery.
Hoti will also visit the municipality of Decani today.
The abbot of the Visoki Decani monastery, Sava Janjic, who has been the most vocal in underlining the Diocese’s position against violating the provisions of the Law on SPZ, shared another message on Twitter this morning – in Serbian, Albanian and English – explaining that the construction of the Decane-Plav road through the SPZ is not in accordance with the law. He also noted that there is a solution from 2014, which is in accordance with the law – construction of a bypass around the SPZ.
At the same time, he proposed that the existing road through the zone may be completed later – after the bypass is constructed – but as a road of local character, with appropriate width, speed limit and prohibition of heavy traffic.
Janjic emphasized once again that the monastery and the clergy are not against the economic development of the municipality of Decani. Read more
Read more:
Daut Haradinaj to the Decani mayor: You were called to work, the road must be finished!
Kosnett welcomes the Kosovo government’s decision to halt construction of the Decani-Plav road
Nora Weller: Kosovo to prove that the Serb community and monasteries are protected
Hoti and Ramosaj: Works in the protective zone are suspended until a solution is found
Abbot Sava: It is absurd that monks are defending the law from the institutions themselves
Italian KFOR soldiers take guard duty over the monastery of Visoki Decani again
Hoti: We will build the Decani-Plav road without a racket in television studios
Ramosaj: Government to build the road within the SPZ; Janjic: The bypass is the only solution
KFOR commander visits the SPZ in Decani; Ramosaj: Works suspended until Monday at Hoti’s request
The mayor of Decani called the Abbot Sava Janjic „crazy,“ the road construction to continue
Abbot Sava: The law has been violated, the works on the road within the SPZ must be stopped
Kosnett on institutional violence against Decani: The road in Decani gorge is illegal
European diplomats have visited the Special Protected Zone, RTK against Sava Janjic
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