Patriarch Irinej: Serbia without Kosovo is like headless man

“Our greatest hope is in God, in the saints we have there, in Kosovo. As long as it is holy King Dechanski with his body in Decani, until there are so many bishops and patriarchs whose unrecognitional troops rest there, until there are Devi's nuns... yes, this is our hope and with this hope we must defend with all the allowed means our saints, people, monasteries, our land in Kosovo<1>, the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Irinej, quoted Kossev as saying.

According to him, anything valuable in history, culture and spirituality has its beginning in Kosovo.

Serbia without Kosovo is not Serbia. It's like a man without a head,”, Irinej said.

Recalling that he had stayed in Kosovo during the middle of this month, he has said that “this path was taxing, but grateful”, while adding that it is not true that there are no Serbs in Kosovo”.

I've seen happy faces that many of these were expecting me everywhere, that's a part of our people in Kosovo who in my personality saw our church, saw our state of Serbia and our people in the country, and I think that on this visit they realized that they are not alone and abandoned”, Irinej said.

According to him, the life of these Serbs “is not easy at all, living in a big hope in a great uncertainty and innocency”. “They are deprived of human dignity and normal life”, he thinks.

He added that Serbian authorities were wrong that during the talks, they have not insisted on the return of the population who after the war has abandoned Kosovo.

We can't give this house to anyone. Power can do anything, but every force is transitional”, said Irinej at the end.