Currently, on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage, the Serbian monuments in Kosovo are under Serbia. However, in July at the meeting of the Committee for World Heritage, without discussion was decided that these are ‘medieval monuments in Kosovo.’
When asked what does that mean, Serbian Ambassador to UNESCO Darko Tanaskovic responded that “there are many ambiguities and arbitrary reasoning related to the current treatment of the documents of the World Heritage Committee, when it comes to the Serbian cultural heritage. Moreover, that Serbian heritage is on the list of endangered cultural heritage of UNESCO.”
“In the documents of the Committee, our medieval monuments are still under the heading “Serbia”. However, the paragraph that refers to the condition of their protection in the decisions of the same Committee is entitled “Medieval Monuments in Kosovo (Serbia)”, where the asterisk next to Kosovo noted that it is treated in accordance with the Resolution 1244. At a recent meeting of the Committee in Bonn, in consultation with the chairperson-Germany, and with the support of delegations from Croatia, Philippines and Peru, it was unanimously decided not to open a debate on the report about the state of our heritage. The reason was that we would enter in politicized debate, with the general consensus that the World Heritage Committee is not the place for such encounters. Bearing in mind the history and the fact that at a certain point, due to the pressure of some countries, the name of Serbia was completely removed, and after a lot of trouble returned, the treatment of our heritage in Kosovo is at present general conditions optimal, although certainly not ideal,” explains Ambassador Tanasković.
