The Mayor of Pristina Shpend Ahmeti stated that representatives of embassies and Kosovo government will be involved in settling the issue of legalization of the Church of the Christ Savior in Prsitina, due to its sensitivity.
“The issue of the Church of the Christ Savior will, due to political sensitivity, for sure be one of the most sensitive issues when it comes to legalization in Pristina, thus, now, even six months before the dead line for legalization, some embassies and the Kosovo governments are involved in the process,” said Ahmeti to Voice of America in Albanian language.
Construction license for the church was issued in February 1999, said Ahmeti and added that back than population was against its construction in the complex of the University of Pristina, thus the decision is considered, ever since, as a provocation of than president Slobodan Milosevic’s regime.
Ahmeti explained that all illegal constructions will be treated in the same manner. He reminded that Kosovo parliament adopted a law in 2013 on legalization of illegal constructions. Local authorities in Pristina announced several times that there is possibility for the Church of the Christ Savior to enter in the procedure of demolition, if the request for its legalization is not submitted within a deadline, as prescribed by the law, which expires in June.
According to the Kumanovo Agreement and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 laws and regulations brought before 10 June 1999 are valid in Kosovo, whereas first head of UNMIK Bernard Kouchner signed the regulation which provided that discriminatory laws and decisions that used to be in force in Kosovo are null and void.
