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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Condemnation of marking Serbian cultural heritage as Albanian

Belgrade, 7 October 2025

Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković today sent a letter to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, strongly condemning the malicious labelling of Serbian cultural heritage as Albanian on Google Maps in the Albanian language.

In the letter, Selaković warned that a grave threat looms over the cultural heritage of the Serbian people, which is of universal value to all humanity.

The Minister emphasised that these are predominantly sacred sites dating back to the Middle Ages – endowments and burial places of Serbian kings and saints – which are at the same time living places of worship of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

He specified that these are the places of worship that are at the core of the Serbian people’s spirituality and a pillar of its overall history and identity, such as the Patriarchate of Peć Monastery, the Church of Our Lady of Ljeviš, Gračanica, Banjska Monastery, the Monastery of the Holy Archangels, the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Cathedral of St. George and many others, practically all places of worship of the Serbian people and the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija.

He noted that, after decades of burning, destruction and desecration of Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija, which has been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger for twenty years, this may appear to be a less drastic act, but it is not.

According to him, the Serbian people have learned throughout their history that attacks on cultural treasures are a harbinger of far more serious events.

The Serbian people has already faced such a devastating pattern several times – one that can only be described as culturicide, he said, noting that this evil seeks not merely to destroy the culture of one nation, but to annihilate culture as a bearer of identity, ultimately aiming to erase the very existence of an entire people.