Land disagreements continue over Decani Monastery

The directors of the Decani municipality say these properties are of both public enterprises and that the court has empowered a 1997 agreement, when the Serbian administration had passed those lands to the monastery.

For us this is a matter of rule of law and Kosovo's highest court, and after that the Constitutional Court has confirmed the decision that 24 hectares of land that have been in conflict for nearly 16 years has been recognised and given as ownership of the Decani Monastery. This is the final decision, as stated in the Constitutional Court's decision that cannot be changed and must be implemented”, says the representative of Decani's medieval monasteries, Igumeni, Sava Janjic.

“The Constitutional Court, I appreciate that it has made the most absurd decision any Constitutional Court could make, weighing both the 1992 and 1997 decision of parliament and the Republic of Serbia that unfortunately took place in 2016”, says the chairman of the Decani Community, the Ramosaj Union.

The Constitutional Court's decision is final and the same cannot be turned back as it forces the Decani Community to carry out procedures for recognising property on behalf of the Decani Monastery.

Mr. Ramosaj says that, at the Serbian government's decision in 1992, the hotel company “iliria” had donated 12 hectares of land to the Decani Monastery, while in November 1997, Serbian power exceeded the other 12 hectares of beekeeping. He says the lands belong to these two public enterprises of this municipality, which, according to him, were taken from Serbia's then powers.

“The citizens of Decani are not people who have some revenge in their souls, the citizens of Decani are interested in living in harmony with anyone living in this municipality, the citizens of Decani have respected and will respect the Decani Monastery because it is an added value and it is the main value of this city in terms of historical, cultural, religious heritage and that we have defended in tradition for centuries. However, for refusing to allow the monastery to become an obstacle to the concept of economic development of this municipality, implementation of the Constitutional Court's decision would kill the hope of Decani's citizens living in this town”, he said.

Igumeni Sava Janjic says that failing to implement the decision by local authorities has created many concerns in the monastery, but also concerns on international factors. The issue of this decision was also included in the US State Department report on religious freedoms in Kosovo.

“We strongly believe that the reason will prevail and local authorities in the municipality, as well as the authorities in the centre, such as the government, will see that it is in the interest and benefit for all in Kosovo that this decision is implemented, and this shows that Kosovo rule of law is for personal interests”, says Igumeni Janjic.

He says that the Decani monastery came in 1992 and has since created a lot of friendship and that during the war the monastery has helped Albanian citizens as well as Serb citizens after the war.

Igumeni Janjic says that the Decani Monastery, in addition to belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church, is also European and global heritage and is an inheritance in Kosovo, and it is important to depoliticise cultural heritage and protect itself as an asset for all.

And what's very important to citizens is fair information and not to be influenced by propaganda that we are obstacles to the municipality, that we are obstacles to the development of this society. Quite the opposite. The monastery is a fortune to everyone. We have many tourists coming from around the world every day, and these people are coming to see this monastery, but they are coming here to Kosovo, so that's great potential for Kosovo as well. So the monastery is not a problem, but it's a good one for all”, he says.

Against the constitutional court ruling, members of the League of Historians of Kosovo “Alri Hadri” whose branch in Decan, whose chairman, Shkodran Imeriaj, says the decision is based on the time laws of violent measures, respectively, of Milosevic's (Sl Slobodan) size.

“We think this decision is irresistable and the only solution for us as the association is that the property should be restored to management of the Decani municipality, respectively, to their executives in companies, and that we have already proposed both to parliament and to the Kosovo government that these properties should be announced with a separate national asset decision, respectively, and return to Kosovo's national assets and return to management”, he said.

Mr. Imeraj says another solution to bring the decision back is international courts.

“We have also called on the Decani municipality to send the course even to international courts because these courts will be able to turn the subject to zero, as is the case of the Salzburg Court because we think that with this Constitutional Court ruling, human rights”, he said.

The mayor of the Decani municipality, Bashkim Ramosaj, says Kosovo does not have legal subjectivity to refer to other international courts and the final decision must be of the Constitutional Court.

I believe and I'm convinced of what I'm saying, the Decani monastery should have the same concept as we, the Decani monastery must live in harmony with the citizens of Decani. The citizens of Decani have expressed and have this willingness to live in such harmony where they and we are owners of this city should respect each other's needs, so I'm convinced that we understand in time, we understand, I believe and I'm convinced and I want to be convinced that the monastery's personnel are in line with the citizens of Decani, it's the Serbian influence, it's the Orthodox world that Decan Monastery personnel are against economic development, he said.

But, Igumeni, Sava Janjic, says the Decani monastery has no problems with citizens, but with some structures, which he says, view the monastery as an obstacle to some personal interests.

So I hope that local structures will finally see that this nationalistic-based story or any personal financial benefit is not good for anyone, and in the future we will find ways to improve our cooperation and live in peace as this monastery has lived with our neighbors for 700 years and that is the hope that we can preserve this beautiful legacy of the world even in the time that we are living”, he says.

Both sides continue to believe in their positions.

But how much could a compromise be reached between the municipality and the monastery on the land issue?

“We are on our own right, we are on god's right, no matter what the Constitutional Court decision is, and that I appreciate that with generations and generations we will not agree with this decision, that we have called for a compromise and I have expressed a willingness to compromise with the Decani Monastery with the function of the route, having the complex of tourism in place, having in the function of the mining water that is geox1>, he says.

So I can't see any compromise on the court's decision, but compromise is something else, because we respect the law and the decision of the court, we can find different ways to improve our relations, how to do it better, how to have more children, how to have more local people visiting this country, how to live as part of a community where we belong, because we are part of this community, we have Kosovo documents, we respect Kosovo laws and we live here. Whatever Kosovo is politically, I am not speaking as a politician and we are here to live in peace”, says Igumen Janjic.

Three more years after the Constitutional Court's decision, in the field the possibilities for carrying out this decision seem slim.

Calls for implementation of the Constitutional Court ruling have also made ambassadors of the United States of America and the European Union in Kosovo, who have already criticised the country's institutions for failing to comply with judicial decisions, which they say are not open to negotiation or personal interpretation.