U.S., Kosovo sign cultural protection agreement

Hillary Clinton and Atifete Jahjaga (Beta, file)

TANJUG
15/12/2011

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga signed the Agreement on Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural Properties.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga signed the Agreement on Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural Properties.

Clinton said the U.S. was committed to the preservation of all of Kosovo’s cultural heritage.

“I saw firsthand one of the most cherished cultural treasures, the Gračanica Monastery, a Serbian Orthodox site that dates back to the 14th century, but it’s just one of many such sites. And it’s essential that as Kosovo forges a pluralistic society, a nation that guarantees citizenship rights, equal rights to all of its people, that all of these sites be preserved for the people in Kosovo and the Balkans, as well as others throughout the world who share that same heritage,” the U.S. secretary of state said Wednesday.

She said the agreement “commits our two governments to the protection and preservation, without discrimination, of the cultural heritage sites of national, religious, and ethnic groups that were victims of genocide during World War II,” noting it was the 24th such cultural preservation agreement the U.S. had signed.

Jahjaga said Kosovo had a rich cultural heritage, expressed in the architectural values, in the objects of worship and religious monuments, which testified that different peoples lived there together for centuries, and added that Kosovo was a multiethnic society, which wanted to build good neighborhood relations with all the countries in the region.

“This agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and the U.S. is another testament of our commitment to cultural tolerance and multiculturalism, and our embrace for the diversity of the members of our society regardless of ethnicity, faith, or race,” she said.

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