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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

KFOR’s decision will not boost security of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija

Belgrade, 10 August 2010

Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic said that KFOR’s decision to hand over the protection of Orthodox monasteries and churches in Kosovo-Metohija to the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) will not boost security, but infuse the province with more insecurity and distrust among its people.

Goran Bogdanovic

Author: www.novosti.rs

In an interview for today’s edition of the Vecernje Novosti daily, Bogdanovic stated that such a move by KFOR, without the consent of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church, encourages Pristina to keep making unilateral moves. It is also an attempt to present the security situation in the province in a much better light that it actually is, he added, noting that Serbian and Albanian people still live in fear.

When KFOR representatives informed us about their intention several months ago, we reacted immediately and notified them that we would not agree to this, especially bearing in mind the behaviour of KFOR troops during the March 2004 pogrom, the Minister explained.

In an attempt to prevent this move, the Serbian Orthodox Church also reacted and Bishop of Lipljan Teodosije travelled to Rome and Brussels to demand that KFOR troops keep protecting Serbian churches and monasteries.

The clergy of the Bishopric of Raska and Prizren is determined not to let the KPS protect their monasteries and churches since they do not trust them, Bogdanovic underlined.

Another problem is the situation of isolated and far-flung monasteries, such as Devic, Gorioc, Budisavac and others, which means that the wider community must react now to protect the cultural and spiritual heritage of one people.

UNESCO is the first organisation that must react, because some of the monasteries, such as Visoki Decani and the patriarchy of Pec, are inscribed on the World Heritage List, the Minister outlined.

The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), although non-binding, has encouraged Albanian secessionists in the province to make such moves, because they can now justify their illegal actions with the ICJ’s opinion.

The Minister emphasised that the process regarding the province’s unilateral declaration of independence is not over, noting that it is a struggle that will last for a long time and from which Serbia wants to come out not as a victorious party, but as one that has not been damaged.

Through the resolution we submitted to the UN we expect that it will be made clear to all that unilateral moves cannot be taken into account and that Kosovo did not have the right to secede. In fact, we expect the UN to make Albanians see some sense and persuade them to agree to constructive talks about the province.

Certain EU members are displeased at differing stances about Kosovo-Metohija, but Serbia has no choice but to protect its interests, he added.

It is clear that our country is under huge pressure to give up on its struggle to preserve sovereignty and territorial integrity. Countries that did not recognise the province are not excluded from this pressure, either. This is why the President dispatched fifty envoys to lobby against Kosovo recognition. We therefore believe that the resolution we submitted will prevent further recognitions of independence. We are optimistic in this sense and we believe that these countries will remain consistent in their stance, despite extensive pressure from other countries. We also hope that the UN General Assembly will take our resolution into account, the Minister expounded.

Representatives of Kosovo Albanians have been voicing stories about autonomy of the northern part of Kosovo-Metohija for eleven years in order to put the Serbian community off course and dishearten the people in other parts of the province.

There is no doubt that these stories are not serious, especially because Serbs in northern Kosovo-Metohija do not need any form of autonomy, since this part of the province is inhabited by a majority Serbian population who rely on their state.

A divide of the province has not even been considered. Furthermore, these stories about dividing Serbs into those north of the Ibar River and others south of it can only harm the Serbian struggle to retain the province, Bogdanovic pointed out, adding that Belgrade authorities consider the province to be entirely part of Serbia.