Whether Kosovo will become a member of UNESCO depends on the member states of this organization. Instead of panic, Serbia should welcome entering Kosovo in UNESCO, as another mechanism for the protection of heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, said Kosovo Deputy FM Petrit Selimi, commenting the letter which Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia sent to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
UNESCO headquarters claims that they didn’t receive the request of Pristina that was sent through New York. While high international sources in Kosovo say the opposite, Selimi is adamant that “UNMIK is not a formal applicant, as it was not when Kosovo has received membership in the International Olympic Committee, the Francophone, the IMF and the World Bank.”
When asked whether and how the problem of the denial of ownership over the property of the monastery of Visoki Decani (which is on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage) will affect the candidacy of Pristina, Selimi said that it is Court’s and not the government’s decision and that court decision on 24 acres of land is not final.
“We work together with the international community to provide full constitutional protection of Church in its status and property. But the question of religious heritage is not the reason why Kosovo applied for membership in UNESCO. This UN organization is engaged in education, science, climate change and other areas where Kosovo needs support, in order to be included in the world programs and exchange. Serbian Orthodox sites in Kosovo exist so that all mankind could admire them and Kosovo is guaranteeing the highest constitutional protection – 95 per cent of churches are now under the protection of the Kosovo Police,” Selimi said.
He argues that “the question of Kosovo’s admission in UNESCO is not a matter of law, but whether Kosovo will receive the two-thirds vote of the General Conference of UNESCO. For Serbia’s argument that Kosovo cannot apply for UNESCO membership, because it is not a UN member Selimi stated that it is “totally absurd.” “More than 20 countries have become members of UNESCO before they entered the UN, including West Germany, Austria, Vietnam … We won a legal battle when the International Court of Justice stated that the declaration of independence of Kosovo didn’t violate Resolution 1244 and international right,” said Selimi.
