VISOKI DEČANI AMONG EUROPE'S MOST ENDANGERED CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES

BELGRADE, JULY 29 /SRNA/ - Serbia's Ministry of Culture said that the Visoki Dečani Monastery, a monument on UNESCO's World Heritage List, is one of the most endangered cultural heritage sites in Europe, given that Priština continues with illegal works within the monastery's Special Protective Zone.

"The fact that one of the greatest Serbian holy sites enjoys international protection not only fails to deter Priština from attacking this cultural heritage site, but instead appears to invite barbaric and anti-civilizational behaviour," the Ministry of Culture said. It emphasized that there was a ruthless intention to erase and falsify history and the Serbian people themselves by removing irrefutable evidence of centuries-old Serbian statehood on this territory. The Ministry said that it was particularly concerning that the attack on the monastery was taking place as part of a broader campaign of hatred, extremism, persecution and the suppression of everything bearing the Serbian name, carried out by the regime in Priština. It pointed out that the construction machinery endangering Visoki Dečani was in the same echelon as Albin Kurti's special police forces, which carry out mass arbitrary arrests and the persecution of Serbs, as well as, the Ministry claimed, the ban on national symbols and other restrictions. In this context, the Ministry cited the case of actor Milan Vasić, as he had recently been subjected to restrictions related to performing songs, assessing that such practices are always a testimony to totalitarian repression. Serbia's Ministry of Culture called on international organizations, particularly UNESCO, to urgently respond within their mandates and in accordance with international conventions, especially the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.