Janjiq: Serbian Orthodox Church Seeks No Assistance From Kosovo Government

The Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo does not seek financial assistance from the Government of Kosovo, has declared for Radio Free Europe, the Iguman of the Decani Monastery, Sava Janjiq.

This statement by Igumeni Janjic follows Kosovo President Aleksandar Vuciq's statement Wednesday, which has said that the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo -- although it does not want ethnic borders -- wants Kosovo's “state” to pay 650 thousand euros.

But, Igumeni Janjic has dismissed President Vucic's statement, saying that the request of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo to the Government of Kosovo has to do with paying the rent for the exploitation of the property of this church and in which the Kosovo Agency against corruption is located.

“First, not the authenticity of the sum. Second, it is about unpaid rent, misusing the exploitation of Serbian Orthodox Church property in Pristina by the Agency for Combating Corruption. Our church has demanded that for several years' exploitation of the facility, late rent must be paid for all previous years. The Kosovo government has agreed to pay about 200 thousand euros, but the rest of the amount of money has not been paid. So, it's not about any help from the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, but about the rent due to the usurpation of the Serbian Orthodox Church target”, Janjic has clarified.

The facility in which the Anti-Corruption Agency is located, according to the cadastre, belongs to the Temple of St. Nicholas in Pristina.

According to Igumenit Janjiq, following the engagement of several embassies in Kosovo -- especially that of the United States of America -- an agreement has been reached that some of the rent money be paid.

On the other hand, Kosovo Technical Team chief in dialogue with Serbia Avni Arifi has told Radio Free Europe that rent payments to the Serbian Orthodox Church are .

The “E knows it was an obligation earlier and left for an anti-corruption agency object that you exploit. The Kosovo government has performed all obligations, sometime in November last year”, Arifi said.

Otherwise, Igumeni Janjic has stressed that the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo has never sought financial assistance from the Government of Kosovo, and that he receives this assistance only from the state of Serbia.

But, the Serbian president's statement had followed the open letter of the Bishop of Raska and Prizren, Theodosije, in which he had said the division of territory would lead to the evacuation of Serbs from Kosovo and the destruction of cultural heritage.

However, Igumeni Janijq has not wanted to comment on Vucik's statement that “is better than anything” in case of resolving the Kosovo issue, saying he is not competent for something like that. But he has stressed that Bishop Teodosije has expressed concern for the church because of the frequency of ideas about partitioning Kosovo which, according to him, “may have catastrophic effects on the Serbian Orthodox population and their sacred objects, but may also be harmful to the entire region”. The division, according to Igumenit Yajnaq, is not the way to European future.

But how do you see the Igumeni Ynjiq, the final agreement between Kosovo and Serbia?

The “Precisely due to this reason, Bishop Teodosije has not entered into detail, because the Church cannot mix in the political content of the agreement itself. This is not our job, nor are we chosen to make political decisions. We don't even have the right to impose any political formula”.

But we, in a way, like someone who lives here and for whom this is not a political issue or a matter of our interests, but it's a matter of our lives, first of all, and the lives of the people we work with here, our duty is to draw attention to and remind of some specific” facts, Janzic said.

He added whatever. A Solution to Reach Between Kosovo and Serbia, it should be in the function of survival of people, of most Kosovo Serbs, while according to him, most Kosovo Serbs live in the southern part of the Iber River.