 |
| Deçan Monastery, Kosovo. |
The Diocese of Raska and Prizren, under whose jurisdiction the Monastery of Deçan is located, has described it as "completely meaningless" to respond to the letter of Prime Minister Kurti sent to the Abbot of the Monastery of Deçan, Sava Janjic, in which he expressed his desire to visit the Monastery and talk to Abbot Janjic.
The reason for the refusal, as stated in a communiqué of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren, is the non-compliance with the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo on the property of the Monastery of Deçan.
"The Diocese of Raska and Prizren remains close to its position, clearly stated before, that if the Kosovo Albanian institutions want to show a minimum of goodwill to respect the religious rights of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, they are obliged to fully comply with the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, of 2016, for the recognition of the property of the monastery", it is said in the communiqué of the diocese.
"This decision has been persistently ignored for five years now, despite the demands for its implementation by the monastery and international institutions," the statement said.
The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Government of Kosovo, Hajrulla Çeku, on May 26, said that "the Government of Kosovo is fully committed to the protection of cultural heritage and in particular of the Orthodox churches."
"Dialogue with Orthodox clergy in Kosovo is the only way to a lasting solution", wrote Minister Çeku, on his Facebook profile, where he posted the letter of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, sent to the Abbot of the Monastery of Deçan, Sava Janjic, on May 20th.
The letter states, among other things, that the Government of Kosovo will take care of "all our (cultural) monuments, and in particular the Orthodox churches and monasteries".