Question of the temple of Christ the Saviour is a sensitive political issue that should be resolved in the Parliament of Kosovo, says the mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti visiting the show “Dogovor!?”.
Ahmeti claims that he is not for the demolition of the temple, but he is committed to the fight against the injustice that was done during the Milošević regime, that seized 4.2 hectares of land from the University and gave it to Serbian Orthodox Church.
On the statement of journalist that the decision on the allocation of the plot was signed in 1991 by Hamdi Vraniçi, an Albanian, then the President of the Executive Council of the Municipal Assembly of Pristina, Ahmeti says he does not believe such a document exists because he did not see it.
He believes that the construction of the Orthodox Church aimed at colonization, and that for the SCP is not good to identify with that object.
“This is not a question of freedom of religion, this is not a question of propaganda about the Albanian mayor who does not give something to Serbs, but a political issue because the land is deprived of the University, in the centre of the city, at a time when flats were built for the members of Serbian police, for refugees from Bosnia and Croatian “.
Everything that is happening around the temple recently is considered to be propaganda.
“This is not just a question of Pristina municipality, I think this is propaganda and of some politicians in the government, including Hashim Thaci, for whom it is very important to show as a tolerant person towards the Serbian community,” said Ahmeti.
Mayor of Pristina rejects the claims of the representatives of the SPC and Deputy Kosovo Prime Minister Branimir Stojanović that the temple would be rebuilt. He says that the church might turn into a building for an artistic purpose, such as “passage in Milan.”
Proposal of students of the University of Pristina to turn the temple into a “museum of genocide”, Ahmeti did not comment.
He says that within the mandate of the mayor he decides only on the Construction law and not on whether Orthodox believers will come to the temple to pray. Ahmeti says that he sent the inspection that has stopped the cleaning of the temple, after citizens reported that ”something is being built there”.
When asked why he did not react after the fire, that occurred in the temple or when used as a public toilet or desecrated in other ways, Ahmeti says he is not competent.
“We do not take care of buildings, which are not ours.”
KiM: But this building is in Pristina, and you are the Mayor!?
Ahmeti: Yes, like all the other objects are in Pristina. There are plenty of facilities that are not under our jurisdiction, and we are not taking care of them. The inspection does not go when someone is using a building as a public toilet. We do not go because it is not our building, but when someone is constructing in a building then we have to go.
KiM: What is built? It was cleaned and painted and the metal door was installed.
Ahmeti: So this, a metal door was placed.
KiM: So, metal door is controversial?
Ahmeti: Yes. When someone says publicly, “We want to restore this building to the end”, it means that someone out there wants to build, and we do not have any document. If they think that they are right then let’s go to court.
