92000E2573

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2573/00

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(1 September 2000)

Subject: Serbian monasteries in Kosovo

In the sector of Kosovo under the control of Italian troops there are 22 orthodox churches and monasteries, where at the time of their expulsion the Serb community gathered together all the documents certifying ownership of houses, land, woodland and firms,

1. Is the Council aware that the Albanians used dynamite to blow up churches and monasteries in order to destroy the documents certifying Serbian ownership of property?

2. Does it not consider that the property and activities of the Serb inhabitants of Kosovo should be protected and efforts made to ensure that correct legal and administrative procedures are observed in the region?

3. What measures will it take to prevent the historical and artistic heritage of Kosovo from being destroyed by pillaging?

Reply

(10 November 2000)

The Council deplores the continuing ethnic violence against non-Albanian minorities in Kosovo. According to the Council's information, the destruction of Orthodox churches and monasteries is not primarily due to the fact that documents are being stored there, although the Serb community does seem to have used certain sites to keep important documents safe. Reference might be made to the Patriarchate of Pec. In this case, however, information has reached the Council to the effect that most of the documents which were being kept there have meanwhile been transferred to the municipal authorities in Pec, under Albanian majority administration, after having been copied onto microfilm with assistance from Belgrade. These copies are said to have remained in the hands of the Patriarchate.

The Honourable Member will certainly be aware that the Union is not responsible for maintaining public order and security in Kosovo. That is the task of the UNMIK Police Force and KFOR on the basis of the mandate they received under Security Council Resolution 1244. However, the Council welcomes KFOR's efforts to provide round-the-clock protection for the most important religious sites, to patrol secondary sites and to establish checkpoints throughout the whole province in order to control access to areas inhabited by Serbs.

The Commission has already had occasion in the past to draw the European Parliament's attention to the fact that it does not have the necessary powers to protect Kosovo's civil and religious heritage, but that it is of course willing to cooperate with other organisations (Reply to Written Question E-1587/99). The Commission's projects include a joint study with the Council of Europe to define conservation needs regarding Kosovo's cultural heritage and the creation, together with the Council of Europe, of a high-level expert group to suggest ways of solving the problems resulting from the damage to, and in some cases, destruction of, Kosovo's cultural heritage. Once the findings of the study are available, which should be towards the end of the year, it will be possible to have an overall view of the problem.