Milasinovic: Raising Serbia's standing in UNESCO ensures that Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo will not be classified as someone else's

Professor Goran Milasinovic, President of the Serbian National Committee for Cooperation with UNESCO, stated for Kosovo Online that Serbia's re-election to the UNESCO Executive Board was significant for preserving Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo. According to him, by enhancing Serbia's reputation in UNESCO, a guarantee has been established that Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo will not be classified as someone else's culture.

"We are very pleased with this re-election; the result is very convincing. When you consider that out of over 190 countries, 137 voted for Serbia, it truly signifies an elevation of our standing. I believe this boost in reputation has occurred in recent years because we have consistently carried out all UNESCO activities concerning us, yielding results. This undoubtedly has political implications, and our interests will be better safeguarded," Milasinovic expressed for Kosovo Online.

He also explains the importance of being on the UNESCO Executive Board.

"In the context of preserving our cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija, this re-election is also a significant result since the Executive Board is the UNESCO body that prepares all documentation for the General Conference. We will naturally have much quicker and easier access to information about what the other side is preparing, contrary to our interests," Milasinovic emphasized.

As he added, he hopes it won't come to a vote on Kosovo's membership in UNESCO.

"We hope such a scenario will not arise, but we all remember 2015 when there was a vote, and with a very 'tight' result, we managed to retain our position: that we continue to be responsible as a UNESCO member state for our cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija," Milasinovic said.

Reminding that UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations for culture, science, and education, he says that the organization should be apolitical.

"In practice, it certainly is not, and we see it every day; we saw it at the last General Conference. We fight against it, but a large number of countries, as each country has one vote, want to maintain their significance by influencing global politics or global justice with their vote. This also applies to UNESCO activities related to these segments of culture, science, and education. A balanced and neutral stance within UNESCO is always appreciated. I believe that with such an attitude, not only now but in the last 10 to 15 years, we have gained a reputation that ensures all well-intentioned countries are informed, if nothing else, about the problems we have concerning Kosovo and Metohija, the protection of our monasteries that are on the list of endangered properties, and we all know why," Milasinovic stated.

He explains that by raising Serbia's standing in UNESCO, a guarantee has been created that Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo won't be classified as foreign culture.

"It's not just about raising our reputation for everyone to know; we have thereby created some assurance that at least this generation will not allow our cultural heritage, probably the most significant, to pass into the hands of someone else and be rebranded, to be classified as someone else's culture. We can hardly imagine such a scenario," Milasinovic emphasized.