Serbia given a minute to defend its Heritage

Mastilović – Jasnić
01. 07. 2011
Foto: Nebojša Marković

‘Attempt that four Serbian monuments of culture – monasteries Pecka Patrijarsija, Decani, Gracanica and Bogorodica Ljeviska are renamed as ‘Kosovo monuments’ is the most flagrant violation of the international law and is shameful attempt to support those who want to erase every trace of Serbian presence in Kosovo over centuries’, Sladjana Prica, Deputy Minister for Multilateral Issues says for ‘Blic’.

The first attempt that Serbian cultural heritage is renamed as Kosovo one was in Spain in 2009, the second one in Brazil in 2010 and this is the third one. All those attempts were unsuccessful and they shall be unsuccessful in future, too’, Prica says.

At the 35th annual session of the Committee for the world heritage in Paris, Prica, as representative of the Republic of Serbia had one minute to persuade the participants that such proposal was ‘unacceptable and shameful’.

‘The proposal was made by the Committee Secretariat because of huge pressure made on it. Among the countries leading in making that pressure there were France, Switzerland, Sweden and Australia. We had to fight a fierce diplomatic struggle and Minister Vuk Jeremic also had to personally talk to many of his counterparts’, Prica says.

She claims that an information leaked from certain number of countries that the USA, although not a member of the Committee is participating in all negotiations and has engaged a team of experts pushing the proposal.

The arguments of those who suggested re-naming of Serbian cultural heritage was that large number of countries had recognized Kosovo, that Serbia has no right to take care of those monasteries and that they belong to Kosovo heritage.
In our lobbying we had strong support from Russia, China, Brazil, Egypt, South African Republic, Mali, Ethiopia, and Nigeria…

‘Another important thing is that these are living monasteries with brotherhood and monks. We fought and managed to prevent that they are turned into museums as suggested’, Prica says.

The Serbian Orthodox Church is surprised at this initiative.

‘We are very concerned. This initiative is contrary to until so far dominant international stance that Serbian Orthodox heritage has to preserve its identity and independence. We are especially surprised that the proposal had been made by France, a country with which we have traditional friendship and understanding. This initiative also prejudices the outcome of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina which shall also include Serbian spiritual and cultural heritage’, Prior Sava Decanski says for ‘Blic’.

According to his words taking away Serbian identity from our spiritual and historical monuments in Kosovo would mean ‘amputation of our historical remembering’.
‘Such acting may bring in question until so far very successful cooperation between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the UNESCO.

A blow from France

‘The Frenchmen know better than anyone else the value of our monasteries and their frescoes. Not only because of the Helen of Anjoy, but because of the fact that French experts several centuries back were cleaning the Ottoman plaster from frescoes in Serbia. They know very well that those are not Albanian monasteries or Albanian frescoes’, Sladjana Prica says.

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