“Undermining the final and irrevocable decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court on Decani Monastery and the interfering of politicians in judicial decisions severely undermines the rule of law and order in Kosovo, aggravates the religious freedoms and confidence between communities,” Visoki Decani reacted late last night to yesterday’s allegations presented by the Kosovan Prime Minister concerning this monastery.
The reaction arrived after Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti once again linked the return of the monastery land in Decani with the Milosevic regime and highlighted what he sees as problems related to the monastery.
“These days both President and the Prime Minister of Kosovo publicly confirmed refusal to implement the 2016 Kosovo Constitutional Court decision to recognize 24 hectares of Decani Monastery land. This Court decision is supported by the EU/OSCE/UN & the leading Western Ambassadors,” the monastery tweeted.
Albin Kurti revealed yesterday that he is optimistic that the issue of the Visoki Decani monastery land will be resolved.
On the other hand, he claims that the „Milosevic regime“ gave the monastery this land 25 years ago, and that despite the Constitutional Court’s confirming the monastery’s ownership of the land, there are „administrative cases“ related to the property.
Kurti also said that he wants to „preserve“ Visoki Decani, which he described as „the cultural heritage of all citizens“.
„I believe that the issue will be resolved, I am an optimist, I am the first Prime Minister of Kosovo with whom the Orthodox priests in the Decani monastery refused to meet. They met with my predecessors, but they don’t want me at a meeting. I asked for an appointment, but they refused,“ Kurti complained yesterday.
“The Serbian Orthodox Diocese in Kosovo has always been open for dialogue with Kosovo institutions but not on the legality of the 2016 Kosovo Constitutional Court decision which confirmed Decani Monastery ownership over 24 hectares. This is a firm position of EU/OSCE/Quint Ambassadors,” Visoki Decani underlined.
Unfounded accusations against the Church by Kosovo officials endanger our security, property rights and religious freedoms
Visoki Decani reminded of the position of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren, sharing a link to its statement dated February 19th of this year.
The monastery stressed that the SOC cannot live in Kosovo without comprehensive protection.
“Due to systematic violations of our rights, even those guaranteed by Kosovo laws, the Serbian Orthodox Church cannot normally live in Kosovo without comprehensive protection of her identity, rights, property and freedoms with firm international guarantees and KFOR protection in Decani.”
The Serbian Ministry of Culture reacted to Kurti’s allegations yesterday, saying that this is another attempt to use every opportunity to „appropriate“ Serbian cultural heritage, at least the part that was not destroyed in „countless previous desecrations and pogroms“.
The ministry underlined that it would not allow such „reckless statements“ to remain unanswered.
„We will continue to remind of the unacceptable situation of the Serbian heritage in Kosovo and Metohija and that we work dedicatedly to preserve it, despite all the blatant attacks that the Serbian heritage is facing,“ they said in a statement.
The issue of the Visoki Decani monastery’s land was resolved in 2016 by the Kosovo Constitutional Court, which recognized the monastery’s ownership of 24 hectares of land in its vicinity.
Despite this verdict, the Kosovo authorities have been refusing to implement the decision for years. This refusal was one of the reasons why the Serbian Orthodox Church decided to cut off contact with the Kosovo authorities.
„Due to an unprecedented violation of the rule of law and religious freedoms against the Serb community, the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo has cut off contacts with the Kosovo authorities. Open ethnic and religious discrimination against our church harms all citizens of Kosovo,“ Visoki Decani said earlier this year.
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