Djenovic: Pristina violated the UN Charter and Article 9 of the European Convention, which guarantee freedom of religion

Religious analyst Drasko Djenovic, regarding the ban on the entry of Patriarch Porfirije to Kosovo, states that with this action, "Pristina violated Article 18 of the UN Charter and Article 8 of the European Convention, which guarantee freedom of religion."

Djenovic for Kosovo Online points out that it is a demonstration of force by Pristina.

"Regarding the ban on the entry of His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije into Kosovo, we see a demonstration of the power of the authorities in Pristina, as in the example of banning the representative of the largest Christian church in this region from entering the territory of Kosovo," Djenovic says.

He adds that on the other hand, the insistence of the "Kosovo authorities that the patriarch can enter if he condemns the barricades is mixing secularity and ecclesiasticism".

"The patriarch is a church figure, not a politician, in this way the Kosovo authorities have violated Article 18 of the UN Charter and Article 9 of the European Convention, which guarantee freedom of religion. Not to mention the regulations of Serbia and Kosovo itself, which guarantee freedom of religion," he adds.

He points out that such bans have not brought good to any society.

"Banning the entry of any church representative or preventing any religious gathering, liturgy, mass or worship has never brought any good to any society because religious rights are established in all countries of the world. It is not a European heritage, but the heritage of the whole of humanity, and authorities that insist on only one are totalitarian," Djenovic said.

Our interlocutor concludes that this ban "will not help Kosovo in its efforts to achieve a more favorable position for its society in European institutions."