Rajic: Kurti continues with the project of appropriating Serbian cultural heritage

Political analyst Predrag Rajic says that, although it is historically very clear who built the cities in Kosovo, to whom the sacred sites and objects of great cultural significance belong, Albin Kurti continues with the project of appropriating Serbian cultural heritage.

In response to the announcement by Kosovo's Prime Minister that the Government of Kosovo is preparing the historical center of Prizren for nomination to UNESCO's World Heritage List, Rajic told Kosovo Online that Kurti wants to present Serbian cultural heritage as "Kosovar."

"That is how he wants to define it. He believes that it is not yet time to completely rewrite history and officially present a falsification that would label it as Albanian heritage. For now, he wants to disguise it, to remove the ethnic label and call it Kosovar. He will continue to do so, and Serbia will continue to fight against it on the international stage. This is why it is very important that so-called Kosovo did not succeed in its attempt to become a full member of UNESCO, as if it had, this struggle, which is already very challenging for us, would surely be even harder," Rajic says.

He says that, from a historical perspective, there is no room for doubt, citing examples of place names, including the word "Kosovo" itself.

"If you analyze it linguistically, you will find that the word comes from the noun kos, meaning a type of bird in Serbian, while in Albanian, it means nothing. We can analyze place names of various cities throughout Kosovo and Metohija. Albanians have found new names for some, but for others, they continue using Serbian names. It is telling that Suva Reka, where Albanians were already a strong majority before the war, is still called Suva Reka by them, which is Serbian terminology, even though it is a city where they are the majority. So, historically, it is very clear who built these cities. However, this will not stop Kurti from attempting to falsify the past with the political support of his patrons, and we will not give up our fight to repeatedly prove the truth and whose cultural heritage this really is," Rajic says.