The Serbian Ministry of Culture: The renovation of Xhafer Deva's house in South Mitrovica undermines the possibility of coexistence

The Serbian Ministry of Culture has strongly condemned the continuation of renovation works on the house of Xhafer Ibrahim Deva in South Mitrovica, warning that this is an unequivocal attempt to rehabilitate a fascist criminal, and that under the guise of culture, projects of revisionism and historical falsification are being carried out.

According to the statement, Pristina has, in this case, as in many previous ones, shown complete consistency in extremism and unilateralism.

"Of course, in each subsequent case, extremism has to go a step further, so the house of a proven criminal not only becomes a landmark but, according to announcements, a 'regional cultural center.' This may seem grotesque or even absurd, but it is certainly not accidental. Pristina insists on such a bizarre project, which offends not only all victims of Nazi crimes but also basic moral sentiments and common sense, despite warnings and protests not only from the Serbian people and state but also from international organizations and the European Union," the Ministry points out.

They emphasize that it is clear that the purpose of such a procedure is not exclusively tied to revisionist goals, but that celebrating criminals, not only openly but also demonstratively, justifies a policy of violence in history and aims to legitimize it today.

"The persecution that the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija are subjected to daily gains additional momentum when the field of culture, in which Serbian heritage is already exposed to desecration, falsification, destruction, and theft, turns into a space for celebrating terror and issuing undisguised threats in the most cynical manner, thereby undermining every possibility of coexistence in Kosovo and Metohija," the statement reads.

The Ministry reminds that Deva was a notorious Nazi collaborator who was active in the formation of the SS "Skanderbeg" division, known for preparing and executing crimes against the Serbian and Jewish populations, the mayor of Mitrovica during World War II, and the Minister of Internal Affairs of fascist Albania during World War II, who was decorated by Adolf Hitler in 1944.