PRESS CONFERENCE BY HEAD OF SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

PRESS CONFERENCE BY HEAD OF SERBIANORTHODOXCHURCH IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA

The recent violence in Kosovo and Metohija constituted a tremendous pogrom against Serbs living there, executed by Albanian terrorists, Bishop Artemije of the Diocese of Prizen and Raska, Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija, told correspondents this afternoon during a press conference at Headquarters.

The tragic events, which took place between 17 and 19 March, were a well organized and well prepared campaign of ethnic cleansing, carried out against Serbs wherever they lived, on a scale not seen before during the five-year presence of the United Nations administration and multinational security force (KFOR).  During the three days of violence, 28 people had been killed, with 815 injured, including 65 members of the international community and KFOR.  Also, 500 Serbian homes had been burned, as well as 35 churches and monasteries, Bishop Artemije said, showing the places where violence had taken place on a map.

He said he wanted to draw the attention of the United Nations and the world to the fact that the Kosovo problem had not been solved by the 1999 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombing.  The international community must fight against terrorism in Kosovo and Metohija as it did elsewhere in the world, in order to contribute to implementation of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), which foresaw a multi-ethnic and democratic Kosovo within the State of Serbia and the State-union of Serbia and Montenegro.

Without stopping the monstrous violations in which people, houses and churches were being burned and ethnic cleansing was being executed, it would be impossible to create a multi-ethnic society.  First, all terrorists must be expelled, so that those who had been expelled from their homes and monasteries could return.  In so doing, “we can together contribute to the creation of multi-ethnic and democratic institutions and a society which is thoroughly prepared to be brought into integration with the European and other world institutions”, he said

Asked by a correspondent what specific methods could be used to deal with terrorism and to contribute to creation of a multi-ethnic and democratic society, Bishop Artemije said the international forces present, now numbering 18,000 troops, should not only be bolstered in numbers but also with new mandates so they could use the necessary means to stop Albanian terrorism.  The first step the international community had to undertake was to stop terrorism, followed by measures to reconstruct shrines and facilitate the returns of people who had been expelled.  Only then could creation of multi-ethnic and democratic institutions and civil society be addressed.  “There is no other path”, he said.

Responding to another question, he said the United Nations and the Security Council had come to a full understanding and had expressed sincere and strong condemnation of the violence.  There had been a promise that everything would be done to prevent something like that from happening in the future. “We anticipate that they will hold fast to their words”, he said.

A new Security Council resolution had not been discussed, he continued, but he had requested a new policy and strategy, as the current policy had turned out to be a “complete failure”, as illustrated by the March violence.  Whether or not those new policies should be expressed in the form of a new resolution or a new interpretation of resolution 1244 was up to the Council.

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