Diocese of the SOC in Kosovo: “Attacks on churches are the fruit of Pristina’s aggressive rhetoric”

The SOC Diocese of Rasko-Prizren, which cares for Kosovo and Metohija, expressed deep concern over a series of attacks on Orthodox churches in the region.

This is stated in a special statement by the diocese, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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The text of the statement states that during the last attack on the Church of St. Petka in Vitina, as well as on Djurdjevdan (St. George's Day), unknown persons tried to remove the church flag (tricolor) from the bell tower of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the village of Klokot. Also, money and church valuables were stolen from the Church of the Holy Trinity in the village of Partesh.

“In the protected area of ​​the 14th century Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lipljan, windows were broken with stones. The priest reported the incident to the police, but there was no reaction because neither the police officers nor the duty officer knew Serbian. This incident was reported in UNMIK (UN mission in Kosovo - ed.) and international representatives. A few days later, the Church of St. John the Baptist in the center of Pécs, known as the "Metropolis", was stoned and windows were broken.

The attackers entered the churchyard, which is supposedly guarded by police, presumably from a nearby building. The priest, who lives in the parish house next to the church, is concerned about this incident because it is this and many other churches that are now being looted and attacked that were burned and desecrated during major Albanian-led riots in 2004, when they were destroyed in two days or 32 churches were severely damaged and two monasteries were completely destroyed,” the document says.

The Rasha and Prizren diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church notes that the latest wave of violence is not only, as Kosovo authorities like to say, part of everyday life, which also includes robberies in mosques.

“Attacks against Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo and Metohija occur constantly and are mainly of ethnic and religious origin, since they are aimed specifically at a community whose presence clearly makes someone nervous,” the Rasko-Prizren diocese reports.

We will inform the head of the European mission in Kosovo and the head of the (European police - ed.) mission EULEX, as well as the ambassadors of the Quinta (USA, UK, Italy, France and Germany), representatives of the (occupation military contingent - ed.) KFOR about the latest attacks.

“Complaints to Kosovo institutions are meaningless because this violence is the product of aggressive rhetoric coming from the very top of Kosovo institutions, which, instead of solving the problems of the population, the economy and the fight against the pandemic, attack Serbia every day with the most terrible words and collectively blame the Serbian people. And such behavior directly creates a dangerous potential for violence, and international representatives must be aware that local authorities are politically manipulating the population to cover up their own failures. At the same time, the pressure on the Serbs complicates the daily life of our people, who have already lost all trust in the police and institutions of the Kosovo Albanians due to disrespect for laws and court decisions, as in case with the Visoki Decani monastery,” the diocese said in a statement.