"11th attack on Serb shrines in Kosovo, property of Serb returnees is also under attack"

Photo: Kim.gov.rs

In the village of Dubrava, the municipality of Istok in Kosovo and Metohija, the property of two Serb returnee families, of Radoje and Milan Pumpalovic, was attacked on Monday. Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic said that on Tuesday.

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He stated that the attack and the stoning the day before of the Church of St. Petka in Kosovska Vitina were not isolated incidents, but something that came in a series of ethnically motivated attacks against the Serbs, their property, and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) temples in Kosovo and Metohija.

Petkovic stressed that the incident in the village of Dubrava was "the straw that broke the camel's back" - the fifth attack on the property of the Pumpalovic family, just as the Church of St. Petka in Kosovska Vitina got stoned.

"This is the eleventh attack on the temples and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija. After only a few hours, the latest attack on the family homes of Radoje and Milan Pumpalovic in Dubrava took place," said Petkovic.

He noted that many are "pretending not to be aware" and asking why the Serbs are not returning to Kosovo and Metohija, adding that Pristina has not provided and does not provide conditions for the return of Serbs to the southern province, and that the rate of return of displaced persons to Kosovo and Metohija is the lowest in the world.

Petkovic said that another reason was that the Serbs who have returned are intimidated and expelled by burning and breaking into their houses and stealing their property.

The attacked property of Radoje and Milan Pumpalovic; Photo: Kim.gov.rs

He warned that these are not isolated incidents, as usually presented by the Kosovo police, but a series of ethnically motivated attacks against Serbs, their property and the SPC temples.

Petkovic stressed that such incidents should be stopped, stating that 11 (Serbian) temples and churches in Kosovo and Metohija have been broken into and attacked in the last month and a half, and added that incidents occur mainly during major (Orthodox Christian) holidays in order to further upset the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija.

He assessed that the policy of impunity carried out by Pristina encourages Albanian extremists to continue attacking Serbs, their houses and temples, and that Albanian extremism directed against Serbs is further fueled by the war mongering policies coming from Pristina and speeches delivered against Belgrade, the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija the dialogue, and the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities (ZSO).

Petkovic said that he on Tueday informed the head of the OSCE Mission to Kosovo and Metohija, Michael Davenport, about the latest, but also all the previous incidents in Kosovo and Metohija.

"The state reacts in the strongest terms, we have sent official letters to other international missions and institutions, as well as to Brussels, because the attacks on the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija must finally stop," said Petkovic.

(Telegraf.rs)