Kosovo Will Remain Serbian
Christ Pantocrator fresco, 14th century, Pec Patriarchate. Kosovo and Metohija, Serbia.
Bishop of Rashka-Prizren Diocese, His Grace Artemije
On the two-year anniversary of the renewed pogrom in southern Serbian region, during which 35 Serbian churches were set ablaze in only two days, Bishop Artemije's devotion remains firm.
No price is too high for us when it comes to Kosovo and Metohija. It is not over until it’s over, and that is why we cannot allow ourselves to become despondent over Kosovo. I am certain Kosovo will remain Serbian, because I have faith in God.
Our holy shrines in Kosovo and Metohija are gravely wounded today. Not a single one has been restored yet, regardless if they were destroyed on March 17, or prior to this sinister day. The Diocese managed, through great sacrifices, to make parts of the monastic quarters livable in three monasteries - Saint Archangels, Devic and SS. Cosmas and Damian Monastery, so that monks have a place to rest their heads, while everything else remains in rubble, like before.
Golgotha Continues
When You take a look back in order to evaluate these past two years, which impression is the most dominant?
I can see that these two years are exactly like the two years before. The time since 1999. until the latest pogrom is the time of the most severe suffering of the Serbs, with the greatest number of murders, expulsions and destruction of our shrines. Of course, the agony of March 17, since it embodies so much horror compressed in such a short time span, has forced the International community to verbally denounce the violence, but the perpetrators of the surge of brutality are continuously rewarded. Instead of bringing the criminals to the “recognition of right,” as Njegos would say, the International community is rewarding them with ever-rising transfer of power to the temporary Kosovo institutions.
Murders, assaults, bombs thrown in the houses, attacks on churches… have continued to this very day. This is precisely the very purpose of the spurs of aggression and harassment of Serbs in Kosovo, because one hears about it - there was a bomb thrown here, a home was pillaged there, someone was beaten-up or killed over there - this is sufficient to keep the tensions high, so that Serbs wouldn’t start thinking their position is improving.
How can all this be possible when Kosovo and Metohija are guarded by the best trained foreign soldiers, with best arms and equipment?
I have never blamed the foreign troops for failing to prevent these crimes, nor have I thought they are the ones who lack the will to protect us. Those decisions come from Washington, Brussels and who knows where else. When there were more than 40,000 troops stationed in Kosovo, that was the time when the worst and most numerous crimes were committed, in their midst, without the appropriate reaction and, the most damning of all, throughout these seven years of our plight and misery not a single terrorist was arrested, tried and punished for his crimes.
Try to imagine the feeling that washes over me when, surrounded by the armed soldiers, I come to a place where a church once stood, that is now a desolate, leveled field. Last time this happened was only few days ago, in Djakovica, where they are making a “memorial park” to the notorious terrorist organization, KLA, out of the church yard. I could look at the place only through the armored vehicle’s window, since they couldn’t guarantee my safety if I stepped out.
It All Depends On Us
Was the optimism with which You returned from the States fleeting? Do these visits have any effect?
Many people there are willing to help us, they understand the problems, but the core of the issue is still here, in Belgrade. It all depends on us. They cannot finish our work instead of us, unless we do here what we have to, mainly to remain persistent and firm in position that no one in Serbia can be forced or persuaded to accept Kosovo independence.
Serbian Job
You have compared the life of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija with a life on the archipelagos consisting of larger and smaller islands, which are under the constant threat of flood by the restless sea.
I was thinking about our enclaves, ghettos, reserves, about the fact we are surrounded with the barbed wire in Kosovo. Still, we have to keep struggling to survive, despite the hardship and the eventual solution which, we hope, will be agreed upon through the negotiations. Because, as long as there are Serbs in Kosovo, Kosovo is not lost to Serbs. This is why the safe return is the main issue. We first need to restore the living Church and bring back the expelled, the refugees. It is the condition which precedes everything else.
In essence, unfortunately, there are no returnees - according to the UNMIK statistics, only some 5,000 Serbs have returned. While they were coming back others were leaving and no one knows the exact number of Serbs in Kosovo. They are leaving at night, in secret, without witnesses, most people are ashamed for leaving Kosovo…
As a Bishop of Kosovo who, during the last 15 years has seen and been through a lot in Kosovo and Metohija, how do You bear the weight of Your cross?
One can bear everything with God. If I walked through it all as a mere man, the things I saw - grisly murders, massacres, my churches in flames - I doubt I would have survived, or remained sane up until now. The struggle for preservation of our people and our Kosovo and Metohija fulfills me.
Today’s Kosovo epitomizes and mirrors the Old Testament story about Job. Kosovo is Serbian Job. Because, just like Job long time ago sat covered in sores and boils on a garbage lot outside the city walls, so is Kosovo today dumped to the garbage lot of the world, and everyone is eager to forget it as quickly as possible. They are trying to convince Job he brought his suffering upon himself. But the Lord Who sees everything has rewarded Job afterwards, and has given him His blessing.
Suffering
The initial intention [to grant Kosovo Albanians independence] of the International community hasn’t changed not only by the gruesome crimes, but even by the March 17 pogrom, when 12 Serbs were killed, 850 of them wounded and mutilated, 4,000 Serbs forced to leave, 930 houses burnt and destroyed, 35 churches razed to the ground, 7 Serbian villages entirely wiped off the earth… in two days alone. For two days Kosovo and Metohija were in flames. Targets included foreign police officers who were responsible for protecting Serbian enclaves. According to the official reports, 117 UNMIK policemen and 63 KFOR soldiers were wounded, 63 of their vehicles were burned. Some foreign soldiers were killed. All the words of conscience one could hear were quickly replaced by the proponents of independence for Kosovo.