The Director of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Arnaud Gouillon, said that the fact that Europa Nostra had included Visoki Dečani among the most endangered heritage meant that Serbia, the Eparchy of Raška and Prizren and humanitarian organizations had been telling the truth about the Serbian population and churches in Kosmet.
- This means that the truth does come out and now the whole world can hear what we have been saying for decades, and it is good that it finally hears what we have been publishing - said Gouillon.
According to him, Europa Nostra is a serious organization and not very much inclined towards Serbia, so if it speaks about this, it means that the situation is so bad.
- It is important for people to hear and it is not just our view, it is reality, these are facts - Gouillon, who is also the founder of the organization Solidarity for Kosovo, told RTS.
Gouillon said that it was frightening that in Kosovo and Metohija, ‘they are creating a virtual reality, a different one that has nothing to do with the facts’.
- For them, the hegumen of the monastery, Sava Janjić, is a war criminal, the Nobel laureate Peter Handke is a Serbian nationalist. As a humanitarian, I have been placed in the same category. For them, the Serbian people live in freedom - said Gouillon.
He noted that hegumen Sava Janjić was a true Christian, a very brave man ready even for martyrdom, who was ‘now really endangered, because they are drawing a target on his forehead’.
- How can you, if they say that you are a war criminal in all the media there, leave the monastery and walk through Priština and Dečani. That is impossible, they are closed within four walls and they cannot leave those walls without risking - Gouillon said.
He believes the Western world should influence Kosovo Albanians before more serious incidents occur.
- No one has felt safe since 2004 when there were anti-Serb pogroms, and when you ask any Serb if it is possible for these pogroms to happen again, they all answer in the affirmative - Gouillon noted and reminded that there were attacks on Serbs in the previous days.
The humanitarian organization Solidarity for Kosovo informed the French media about the threat to Visoki Dečani, one of the most important monasteries of Serbian Orthodoxy, which has been a constant target of terrorist attacks since 1999.
Europa Nostra, an organization engaged in preserving the cultural heritage on the old continent, included the Visoki Dečani monastery among the seven most endangered sites and monuments in Europe in 2021.
Source: RTRS
Photo: Srna
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