Department for External Church Relations
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Concern expressed in the Russian Orthodox Church for the destiny of Christian shrines in Kosovo
“Another spiral turn is untwisting before our eyes and leading to tragic consequences for the Serbian population in Kosovo, for the Serbian Orthodox Church and, generally, for Serbia” - this is how Metropolitan Hilarion assesses the new escalation of the conflict in Kosovo. In late September, the police of the self-proclaimed republic refused to let through to its territory the transport with Serbian registration numbers, which provoked protests of Serbs who live in Kosovo.
On the air of the Church and the World program, the DECR chairman spoke about his trips to Kosovo and Metohija, “I saw with my own eyes the monstrous consequences to which the armed confrontation had led: I saw ruined churches, settlements abandoned by Serbs; I heard a great deal of stories about how innocent people died in the hands of Kosovo Albanians. But all these stories are carefully hushed up in the West. The West has chosen Kosovo as a hero while Servia as an antihero. This one-sided support for Kosovo by the West while neglecting the will of the Serbian people has already led to what has happened, but unfortunately this escalation does not end”.
“We in the Russian Orthodox Church have always consistently supported the Serbian Orthodox Church and her interests throughout her historical canonical territory, which certainly includes Kosovo. There are main shrines of the Serbian Church there, magnificent monasteries with unique frescoes. We are very much concerned for the destiny of the Serbian population of the Kosovo Krai”, the DECR head stated expressing a hope that a political decision will be found to satisfy the both sides.
DECR Communication Service
Patriarch
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24.01.2021
06.11.2020