Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Attack on the Serbian Orthodox Church's priest is proof that hatred toward Serbs in Kosovo is politically nurtured and tolerated

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija stated that the physical assault on a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the attempted intimidation of a group of Serbian pilgrims in Prizren was a direct consequence of the fact that hatred toward Serbs, Orthodoxy, and everything Serbian had been politically nurtured and tolerated in Kosovo over the past two and a half decades.

"Prizren holds special significance for the Serbian people and its history and spirituality, and Serbian clergy, theologians, and pilgrims must be guaranteed the highest level of security because the message they collectively convey is one of peace and tolerance. Incidents of this nature in Prizren are symptomatic of a new wave of political radicalization in Kosovo and Metohija and serve as a warning that the accumulated hatred of extremists over the past four decades is a constant and omnipresent threat to peace and security," the Office for Kosovo and Metohija's statement reads.

They add that intimidation on ethnic and religious grounds is not perceived as a punishable crime by Albanian extremists, as, according to them, since Albin Kurti took over the government, Pristina has openly carried out institutional violence against the Serbian people, setting an example for extreme individuals who evidently see it as a green light to join attacks on Serbs.

"There is no greater sin than attacking those who spread Christian messages of peace, and therefore, we hope that yesterday's incident will serve as a kind of alarm even to the foreign political sponsors of Kurti's regime," they conclude.