Patriarch Irinej: Dialogue with Kosovo Albanians the best solution
Serbian Patriarch Irinej said in Vienna that dialogue between Kosovo Serbs and Albanians would be the best solution for the Kosovo issue, but that it should satisfy both sides.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Wednesday, September 15, 2010
We expect a solution now, but if Serbs are not granted their rights, that will be an area of constant dissent and misunderstanding, which will bring new wounds, both to us and other nations, he said.
Therefore we want a just solution to be found, he told a press conference, winding upt his several-day visit to Austria.
He said that solution depended on Europe and the USA. What is the most important for us Serbs at this moment is that we preserve our sanctities, churches and monasteries in Kosovo and enable peaceful life both for Serbs living in Kosovo and for Serbs who want to return to Kosovo, the Patriarch said.
He emphasized Kosovo was not only a geographical region for the Serbs, but the holiest Serbian land, the cradle of Serbian spirituality and history, which treasures more than 1,300 Orthodox Serb churches and monasteries, built during 800 and more years of Serbian presence in that region.
Reminding of the expulsion of Serbs from Kosmet throughout centuries, he said today as well everything was being done to prevent Serbs from returning and, unfortunately, Europe and the USA stood behind those crimes, he concluded.
