Office for Kosovo and Metohija: Instead of celebrating the Saint Petka holiday in peace, Suvi Do residents are afraid

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija announced that just two days after the graffiti "KLA" had been written on the medical center in the mixed settlement of Suvi Do, near North Mitrovica, the church of Saint Petka in the same area had been broken into on the eve of its patron saint's feast day, and they stated that those incidents were a result of the inflammatory rhetoric coming from Pristina.

"Instead of peacefully and joyfully celebrating the holiday today, the residents of this village are fearful of new attacks and provocations, and they are asking why they cannot peacefully observe their religious celebrations," the statement from the Office for Kosovo and Metohija reads.

It emphasizes that the Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the pillars of the survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo, and the churches are places of gathering and unity for Serbs where they should feel safe.

"The Church of Saint Petka has often been a target of vandals and extremists in the past, and the medical center in Suvi Do has been attacked multiple times. Unfortunately, these incidents demonstrate that inflammatory statements from Pristina and the presence of the Kosovo Police in the north only embolden the troublemakers to target objects vital for the survival of Serbs in their ancestral homes," the statement says.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija reminds that the church's doors were broken into and candles were overturned, and this distressing scene was first noticed by the priest of the church, who came early in the morning to prepare for the holy liturgy and immediately reported the case to the police.