Press conference by Delegation from serb orthodox church

 

“We desire to see the future of Kosovo and Metohija that is multicultural, multilingual and multiconfessional, but we do not have such a situation today”, a high-ranking member of a Serbian Orthodox delegation, currently on a two-week visit to the United States, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

Speaking to the press about the situation of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija were Bishop Jovan of Sumadija, member of the Holy Synod; Bishop Teodosije of Lipljan, Abbot of Decani Monastery; and Hieromonk Irinej Dobrijevic, Head of the Kosovo and Metohija Office of the Holy Assembly of Bishops.  During its visit, the delegation has had numerous meetings with members of the Administration, political figures, institutions and media in New York and Washington, D.C.

Members of the delegation said that they had come to the United States not to promote a political agenda, but to testify to the truth about the current situation in Kosovo and Metohija.  “We speak the language of the Holy Scripture -– not politics”, Bishop Jovan stressed.  Describing the conditions in the Province, Fr. Dobrijevic expressed concern that at this stage, a hasty decision regarding the future of the Province might be taken to assuage short-term anxieties and cautioned that a hasty move could have dire long-term consequences.  For that reason, the delegation sought to make the truth known today.

Serbs were now forced to live in enclaves, members of the delegation said.  Serbian children did not have the benefit of Serbian-language schools, and, save for Northern Mitrovica, the cities were void of any kind of Serbian presence.  The communities living in the Province needed to learn to trust each other again and to enter into an integration process, which was the only way forward.  With some 6,000 parishes throughout the territory of former Yugoslavia, the Serbian Orthodox Church felt that it was an integral component of such integration.

The Church’s message related to the need to ensure the repatriation of over 250,000 refugees who desired to return to their homes, including refugees’ return to the areas from which they had been entirely expelled, such as those surrounding Decani Monastery and the Patriarchate of Pec.  It was also necessary to ensure restitution of the property of the Church and the Serbian people as their inalienable right.

Beginning its reconstruction effort, the Church was asking that returnees be employed in that endeavour, so that they could earn a viable income, Fr. Dobrijevic said.  It was not interested in preservation of monuments alone, but in sustainable return and creation of living communities.  The Church was grateful to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which had recently sponsored an international donors’ conference to rebuild many of the buildings destroyed in Kosovo and Metohija -– not only in the war, but also during the course of internationally brokered peace.  Since the inception of peace in 1999, the Church had lost over 150 of its sacred buildings and sites.

The Church stood behind the request for a multi-ethnic, multiconfessional Kosovo, but certain guarantees were needed, Bishop Jovan said.  In the process of resolving the future status of Kosovo and Metohija, the Serbian Orthodox Church and its faithful were also vitally interested in the long-term protection of monasteries, churches, property and cultural patrimony.  Along with the protection of human rights, that had been the point emphasized during the delegation’s meeting with the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno.  Another important issue was that of decentralization, and the Church could provide assistance in the implementation of local self-rule.

A correspondent asked under what circumstances the Church would accept Kosovo’s independence.  Bishop Jovan replied that the delegation had not come to the United States to determine the future status of the Province.  However, it was necessary to ensure normal conditions of life for the Serbian population there.

“We are guaranteed our religious freedom, but we are not able to implement that freedom in Kosovo and Metohija today”, Fr. Dobrijevic said, because there was no freedom of movement.  To that, Bishop Jovan added:  “Nobody forbids us the freedom of expression of our faith.  However, of what use is that when one cannot express his faith where he chooses?  Cannot go to one’s churches, cannot go to the cemetery to visit the graves of one’s loved ones.”  That was one of the basic human rights, which did not exist in Kosovo at present.

Bishop Teodosije added that for the Serbs, the question of independence of Kosovo and Metohija was not an issue of national pride.  It was also not just a question of emotions, but a matter of real-life survival.  What was the majority of the Province’s community, which consisted of Albanians, offering to those who were not in the majority now?  Serbs had an impression that a new society was being formed in Kosovo and Metohija, but only according to the desires of the majority population.  Serbs could not find a place in that society, and that was a matter of concern.

Asked it they felt “a sort of negative international pressure” for independence, rather than a solution to the problems, Fr. Dobrijevic said:  “We are certainly aware of this.”  It was precisely for that reason that the Church had dispatched a delegation to the United States last year and again now.  It was necessary to bring out the reality of the situation.  The delegation was not here to espouse the rights of one community against another, but the rights of one community within the community at large.

To another question, Fr. Dobrijevic replied that the international community had espoused the need for meeting standards before one could engage in the status discussions.  However, many of those standards had not been fulfilled, including the rebuilding of churches.  Now, it was important to go on with the process, in order to achieve an all-embracing and all-encompassing society in Kosovo and Metohija.

In order to ensure that Serbs could continue to exist in the Province, the Church was seeking an active international presence, both civilian and military, in terms of protection of the monasteries and people, Bishop Teodosije said.  Much was expected from the negotiations which were now under way concerning the issues of decentralization and permanent security of the communities, churches and monasteries.  Sometimes, good resolutions were adopted, but not implemented.  Therefore, after any decision was taken on the future of the Province, a monitoring system should be put in place.

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For information media • not an official record