Dzomic: Lies about negotiations between the SOC and Pristina are directed against the Church and Serbs in Kosovo

Former coordinator of the Legal Council of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, who participated in the negotiations on the Fundamental Agreement between the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and Montenegro, Archpriest-Stavrophore Dr. Velibor Dzomic, told Kosovo Online that the SOC has signed several agreements regulating its work in neighboring countries, but that such a “model” is in no way applicable to Pristina due to the Church’s clear position on Kosovo.

“This entire construction—this monstrous, historical lie—about an alleged Fundamental Agreement between the SOC and the so-called Republic of Kosovo serves the purpose of fighting against the Serbian Orthodox Church, worsening the position of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, the clergy, monastics, and SOC institutions in Kosovo and Metohija,” Dzomic stated.

According to him, claims of alleged negotiations to reach a Fundamental Agreement are “a distraction from other issues” and are also aimed at attacking Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, the Assembly, and the Holy Synod of the SOC.

“The birds on the branches know that this is not a topic in the SOC at all. There are no negotiations on an alleged Fundamental Agreement, nor can this model be the same as, for example, the one applied in Montenegro—which I personally participated in—or in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Hungary. The SOC has concluded several Fundamental Agreements with states, and you know what the Church’s position on Kosovo and Metohija is. Anyone who knows even a little about the Church and its stance on Kosovo and Metohija knows that this is blasphemy, spread to alarm our people in Kosovo and Metohija—those wonderful heroes who stand there and preserve their faith,” Dzomic said.

He called on everyone not to spread false news about the SOC and urged that “if you cannot help the Serbs and the SOC in Kosovo, at least do not make things harder for them.”

Dzomic says that the key problems for Serbs in Kosovo are “the question of remaining and surviving.”

“What can we talk about if that Serbian woman from Djakovica cannot move about freely? The right to life, to existence, to education, to work—these are the key issues at this moment. Of course, the SOC has existed for centuries in Kosovo and Metohija—with the state, without the state, sometimes under occupation in the past and today. It stands firm, rooted in the living faith in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, in the Gospel, and in our all-encompassing tradition,” Dzomic emphasized.

He added that while these are important elements for the SOC, they are not the most important, because the Church “stands.”

He reminded that equally important are the clergy and monastics, the churches and monasteries, as well as church choirs and councils.

As an example, he mentioned a church service in Kacanik—the first since 1999—as well as the fact that the faithful had previously participated in cleaning the churchyard, which had been completely neglected.

“Instead of that being the news, they spread false reports—all with the aim of discrediting the Assembly, the Synod, and the Serbian Patriarch. And that is clear. Unfortunately, these people know neither God nor soul, but resort to deceit. Some political party and even certain NGOs have taken up this narrative. Believe in God and in your Church, which was, is, and will remain in Kosovo and Metohija,” concluded Archpriest-Stavrophore Velibor Dzomic.