Bishop Amfilohije: Problem of Kosovo could become a boomerang on a European scale

INTERFAX (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) 07 March 2006, 11:46

 

Moscow, March 7, Interfax - Metropolitan Amfilohy of Montenegro and Primorje thinks that independence of Kosovo would entail negative consequences for the whole Europe.

 

'The problem of Kosovo could become a boomerang on an European scale', Serbian hierarch said in an interview published by Kommersant daily on Tuesday.

 

First, 'new problems would arise in the Balkans because of the incorrect solution of the problem of Kosovo' (separation of Kosovo - IF).

 

'A precedent would be created, and many people in Europe and throughout the world would cite the example of Kosovo. They would say: 'Why Bosnia and Herzegovina could not raise a question of independence? What kind of example will that give to South Ossetia or Abkhazia, Corsica in France, or the Kurds in Turkey?' metropolitan Amfilohy asked.

 

He recalled that over 150 monasteries and church buildings were ruined, hundreds of thousands were expatriated, and 'real ethnic cleanings took place' in Kosovo in 1999-2006.

 

'So, what will happen with the Serbs and other minorities living in the autonomous region when the Albanian majority there becomes independent?' the hierarch asked.