Russia worried about churches in Kosovo

Published on 13 August 2010

Author(s): Serbianna.com/ANP/De Volkskrant, Aug 7 2010

Type:  News

Russia, the Serbian government and the Orthodox Church are alarmed about the plans of NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) to hand over the protection of the Serbian orthodox churches in Kosovo to the Kosovarian police force

Russia is concerned by the situation surrounding Serbian holy sites in Kosovo and believes that putting them under the control of the Kosovo Albanian separatists could lead to a rise in tensions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrei Nesterenko said.

“We share the concerns of the Serbian government and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC ) because such intentions threaten to result in additional tension and cause the Serbian people to further mistrust the willingness of the international peacekeeping forces to fulfill their obligations,” reads a statement by Nesterenko posted on the ministry’s web site.

Nesterenko said that KFOR’s intention to hand over protection of important cultural and religious buildings in Kosovo to the local police, “and without Serbian church agreement,” could cause Serbian monasteries to be subject to danger, and make the work of the SOC in the province difficult.

Protection CH holy shrine KFOR.jpg
KFOR soldiers protecting a holy Serbian shrine

Nesterenko said he hoped the situation surrounding Serbian holy sites in Kosovo would be resolved through dialogue with Belgrade and the SOC. According to the military agreement between NATO and Serbia in 1999 separatist armed Albanian gunmen, referred to as “Kosovo police” are not to “protect” Serbian churches.

The UN Resolution says that “Serb military and police personnel will be permitted to return to Kosovo to perform the functions in accordance with annex 2. The decision by the NATO troops to transfer “protection” of Christian monasteries in Kosovo to the ethnic Albanian authorities that were destroying them has been done without an approval by Serbia and is in violation of the UN Resolution 1244 to which NATO troops agreed to abide by as military occupiers of Kosovo.
 

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