Attempt to erase evidence of Serbs' existence
Aleksandar Vulin, director of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo-Metohija, said on Friday that threats and protests in front of the Serb medieval monastery, Visoki Decani, are an attempt to complete the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and remove the evidence of Serbs' existence.
(kosovocompromisestuff) Friday, February 08, 2013
Vulin thanked members of the Italian KFOR contingent, without whom the monastery would most probably have been burnt down, noting that this was the fifth attack on Visoki Decani since the 1999 NATO bombing campaign.
The remaining Serbs in Decani are monks at the Visoki Decani monastery, so this is just another attempt to complete the ethnic cleansing that started with the bombing campaign, Vulin told Tanjug.
"It is incomprehensible that some court in Kosovo, which the Albanian side deems legitimate, delivers a verdict, and that verdict is not valid because it is in Serbs' favour. It is evident that apartheid rules in Kosovo-Metohija, where there are interim institutions from Pristina, according to which there are no laws for Serbs, for their property, for Church and church assets," Vulin said.
The gates of the Visoki Decani monastery, which is under UNESCO protection, were closed on Friday due to threats of heads of that municipality and extremists. Access to the monastery was blocked by strong police forces and KFOR troops, including Italian carabinieri.
According to a release issued by the Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Raska-Prizren, the Visoki Decani monastery decided to close its gates to all visitors due to threats from Decani municipal leadership and from groups which have been protesting in the town against the monastery for days, after the court upheld the monastery's property rights.
The remaining Serbs in Decani are monks at the Visoki Decani monastery, so this is just another attempt to complete the ethnic cleansing that started with the bombing campaign, Vulin told Tanjug.
"It is incomprehensible that some court in Kosovo, which the Albanian side deems legitimate, delivers a verdict, and that verdict is not valid because it is in Serbs' favour. It is evident that apartheid rules in Kosovo-Metohija, where there are interim institutions from Pristina, according to which there are no laws for Serbs, for their property, for Church and church assets," Vulin said.
The gates of the Visoki Decani monastery, which is under UNESCO protection, were closed on Friday due to threats of heads of that municipality and extremists. Access to the monastery was blocked by strong police forces and KFOR troops, including Italian carabinieri.
According to a release issued by the Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Raska-Prizren, the Visoki Decani monastery decided to close its gates to all visitors due to threats from Decani municipal leadership and from groups which have been protesting in the town against the monastery for days, after the court upheld the monastery's property rights.
