Cultural Heritage of Kosovo

BRUSSELS - EU spokesperson Peter Stano on Tuesday criticised Pristina's decision to ban Serbian Patriarch Porfirije and seven bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church from entering Kosovo-Meothija, noting that the move violated arrangements for official visits and ignored the importance of the Serbian Orthodox Church for "parts of the citizens" of Kosovo-Metohija.

BELGRADE - The Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija said on Friday the Albin Kurti-led authorities in Pristina had banned its Director Petar Petkovic from entering Kosovo-Metohija to spend the Orthodox Easter holidays with Serbs in the province.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - A Serbian flag believed to have been removed from the Zvecan Fortress in the north of Kosovo-Metohija last night has been put back into place, a Tanjug correspondent reported.

It remains unknown who, and when, removed the tricolour flag and its post.

DECANI - On the third day of his trip to Kosovo-Metohija, Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church visited the Visoki Decani monastery and said peace was a spiritual category and that Kosovo was to be defended, above all, by doing good deeds.

MERDARE - Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Wednesday began a visit to Kosovo-Metohija, where he will celebrate Christmas with Serbs living in the province.

Accompanied by a delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the patriarch will first visit the Patriarchate of Pec and then also Visoki Decani, Gracanica and other monasteries.

Ministry of Culture of the Temporary Pristina Institutions, in its campaign of appropriating the material and spiritual heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church, started the alleged "renovation" of the Orthodox church in the village of Gornje Vinarce, seven kilometers from Mitrovica, on the north side of the Ibar River, it was announced on the Facebook page of the City of Mitrovica.

PARIS - Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said on Thursday the fact UNESCO considered Serbian cultural monuments under its protection in Kosovo-Metohija to be in danger was significant, and added that Serbs in the province did not trust the so-called Kosovo Police, but Kfor.

The Eparchy of Raka-Prizren Diocese announced that it has confidential information that the Pristina government intends to initiate a series of actions aimed at further discrediting the Serbian Orthodox Church.
As stated, they will do so by planting false evidence and further inciting ethnic and religious intolerance.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vui addressed the citizens regarding the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija and stated that he will not allow the pogrom of the Serbian people.

View of the Serbian Orthodox Church at Pristina University campus. Photo: Denis Sllovinja/BIRN

The Diocese of Raska- Prizren, which covers Kosovo, said the ban was made without any legal basis, "continuing serious violations of the religious rights and freedoms of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo".