02 April 2007

Serbian official urges UNMIK chief to protect UNESCO-listed Kosovo monastery

BBC Monitoring International Reports - January 20, 2007, Saturday

 

Text of report in English by Belgrade-based Radio B92 text website on 19 January

 

Belgrade, 19 January: Sanda Raskovic-Ivic has called on Joachim Ruecker to prevent the seizure of immobile property belonging to the Decani monastery.

 

"The [Kosovo-Metohija] Coordination Centre expresses its deep concern and regret over the news that Kosovo's temporary administration is carrying out court decisions directed at seizing the immobile property that belongs to the monastery," Kosovo Coordinating Centre chairwoman Sanda Raskovic-Ivic said in her letter to UNMIK [UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo] chief Joachim Ruecker.

 

"We demand that you act with the jurisdiction given to you through UN Security Council resolution 1244 and halt any legal or administrative procedure aimed at confiscating Decani's property. We believe it is not necessary to remind you that Serbia will neither recognize nor accept any decision aimed at confiscating the assets of the Serbian monasteries in Kosovo," Raskovic-Ivic further states in her letter.

 

She added that Visoki Decani represented "a jewel of Serbian culture and spirituality", as well as that the monastery was included in UNESCO's world heritage list.

 

Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1227 gmt 19 Jan 07