Patriarch Porfirije writes to Putin, Trump and World Leaders: Do not allow the Serbian Orthodox People to be expelled from Kosovo and Metohija

The Serbian Patriarch Porfirije today addressed a letter to Pope Leo XIV and world leaders, calling on them to use their authority to ensure that the authorities in Pristina suspend the implementation of the extremely discriminatory Law on Foreigners, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) announced.

The Patriarch sent the letter to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the President of the United States Donald Trump, the President of France Emmanuel Macron; the Prime Ministers of Italy Giorgia Meloni, the United Kingdom Keir Starmer and Germany Friedrich Merz; as well as to the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres and the Director-General of UNESCO Khaled El-Enany.
“Patriarch Porfirije warns that the implementation of this law would not only jeopardize the work of the University in Kosovska Mitrovica, the primary and secondary schools attended by Serbian pupils under the curricula of their own state, as well as the functioning of the entire healthcare system that provides medical care to Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija, but also the very survival of the Serbian people and Orthodox holy sites,” the statement of the Serbian Orthodox Church reads.
It adds that the application of this law would deprive Serbs of the possibility to receive education and medical treatment, while employees in the education and healthcare sectors would lose their jobs, which would lead to an even more massive—if not final—departure of Orthodox Serbs from this centuries-old Christian land, on which, to this day, there are around 1,300 Orthodox churches, monasteries and other Christian shrines, many of which had previously been destroyed.
“The Patriarch reminded world leaders that nowhere else in Europe, despite the aforementioned destruction, is there such a concentration of Christian holy sites in one place, four of which are on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger. Patriarch Porfirije emphasized that the Serbian Orthodox Church remains committed to seeking a peaceful solution and expects the Serbian authorities to do everything possible to find a compromise solution. Human lives are the greatest shrine and we are obliged to protect them,” the statement concludes.