(Ignorance of History or Thoughtless Betrayal – by Fahri Xharra)
Serbia wanted a Serbian Church—during the Vienna talks on Kosovo’s status, the Albanian side proved willing to grant all the demands of the Serbian delegation—which included bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, such as Artemije, Irinej, Teodosije, and others—by conceding Albanian churches to them, designating them as Serbian.
Representatives from the Serbian side were surely delighted by the readiness of these ignorant and unscrupulous Albanians to hand over and recognize 44 Albanian churches as Serbian.
Neither then, nor subsequently, did anyone seriously raise their voice to declare, openly and clearly, that they had gifted Albanian Orthodox culture—the heritage of ancient Albanian antiquity—to Serbia. Resolution 1244 made no mention of a Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Constitutional Framework made no mention of a Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo includes a Serbian Church—a provision accepted by the negotiators in Vienna.
Consequently, Serbia continues to refer to Kosovo as part of the “Serbian spiritual system.” These churches were primarily built during the period of Byzantine rule, a time when there were no Serbs in Kosovo at all. The vast majority of the Arbëror (Albanian) population were Christians. Thus, in every respect, these churches belonged to the Albanians, as they served the Albanians for the performance of religious rites.
In 1924, Serbian archaeologists conducted excavations at the foundations of the churches in Deçan and Gračanica, seeking to determine their true identity. They were dismayed to discover that the foundations belonged to Arbëror churches.
“In the Middle Ages, the Serbs possessed neither the affinity, the capability, nor the means to construct monumental churches—such as those found in Kosovo and Macedonia—so documents attributing the construction of these churches to the Nemanjić dynasty cannot be considered credible,” wrote the Serbian historian and writer
Pero Slijepčević in 1934.
Serbia seeks a “Serbian Association”—an entity intended for the administration of territory and economic assets, such as the “Trepça” complex and Lake Ujman. While its reach and connections would be horizontal, its decision-making authority would be vertical, leading directly back to Belgrade.
Through the establishment of a ‘Serbian association,’ they aim to implement the preamble of the Constitution of Serbia (which states that “Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of the territory of Serbia, possessing the status of substantial autonomy within the sovereign state of Serbia; and that this status of the Province of Kosovo and Metohija entails constitutional obligations for all state bodies to preserve and protect the political and legal state interests of Serbia in Kosovo and Metohija”), as well as Articles 182 and 183 of the Constitution of Serbia.
Historical Background
The imposition of a foreign language upon Orthodox communities in Albanian lands—both in the south and the north—by the Ottoman occupiers, alongside the prohibition of the native language (facilitated by the hierarchs of the Patriarchate), perpetuated a historical falsehood regarding the “Greekness” of Orthodox Albanians. This was later followed by “Serbianization”—with the assistance of Russia—which granted the Greek and Serbian states purported rights over Christian Albanians in Albania, Kosovo, and throughout all territories inhabited by indigenous Albanians.
Throughout history, Albanian fighters would not surrender their heads without their weapons, nor would they surrender their weapons without losing their lives. But what about the negotiators?
Author: Shqiprim Pula
