The Eparchy of Raska and Prizren: We expect Kosovo institutions to allow the registration of land for the Visoki Decani Monastery

The Eparchy of Raska and Prizren stated that neither they nor the Visoki Decani Monastery had been contacted by any Kosovo institutions regarding the execution of the Constitutional Court's decision to return the property to the monastery. They expressed their expectation that the institutions in Pristina would finally do their part in accordance with the law and register the monastery's land in the cadastre.

"The Eparchy of Raska and Prizren, nor the Visoki Decani Monastery, have been contacted by any Kosovo institutions regarding the execution of the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo from 2016 regarding the land of the Visoki Decani Monastery. In recent years, we have witnessed several statements from senior Kosovo officials claiming that the decision of the Constitutional Court on the land of the Decani Monastery was allegedly not legally made and cannot be enforced and that there should be some kind of dialogue with the Church about it," the response from the Eparchy for Kosovo Online reads.

It is recalled that after consultations with legal advisors and numerous contacts with international representatives in Pristina, the Eparchy expressed the view that there could be no dialogue or agreement regarding the aforementioned decision of the Constitutional Court, which was binding and final (res judicata), as it went against legal principles in all democratic societies.

Since the municipality of Decani has been refusing for years to execute the decision of the Constitutional Court, as stated by the Eparchy, they have also appealed to the central cadastre of Kosovo, which has the full right to register the land, thereby automatically updating the cadastral status of the monastery's property at the municipal level.

Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo has also reiterated that the decision must be implemented, indicating that unfortunately, there has been no understanding or willingness to execute the decision from either the local or central cadastre of Kosovo without any explanation.

"Our case has constantly been shifted from the municipal to the central level and vice versa, thereby persistently avoiding the execution of the decision for 8 years. Therefore, we expect Kosovo institutions to finally do their part in accordance with the law, register our land in the cadastre, and issue the monastery with a proper property certificate in accordance with the court judgment. We believe this would be a significant step for the rule of law," the response states.

Regarding readiness for dialogue to improve living conditions and address practical issues, as they note, the Serbian Orthodox Church has always been and remains open to dialogue with all people of goodwill, as demonstrated in practice over all these years, according to the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren.