13 Oct 14
Politicians in Pristina and Belgrade condemned the spraypainting of Islamic State and Kosovo Liberation Army graffiti on the medieval Serbian Orthodox monastery of Visoki Decani.

Nektar Zogjani
BIRN
Pristina
Some of the graffiti on the monastery's land.

Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga condemned the vandalism at the 14th century monastery in western Kosovo, a UNESCO world heritage site which has long been the focus for disputes between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians.

Such acts of vandalism “do not contribute to building good relations among communities and are in conflict with the values of inter-religious and ethnic tolerance as the basis of our state”, Jahjaga said.

“Caliphate is coming”, “IS” [Islamic State] and “UCK” [Kosovo Liberation Army] were among the graffiti sprayed on the external walls and outbuildings of the monastery on Sunday, according to photographs of the vandalism published by archdeacon Sava Janjic on his Twitter account.

Marko Djuric, director of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo, called on NATO’s Kosovo force, KFOR, to reinforce security at the monastery and urged the Pristina authorities to arrest the perpetrators.

“Messages like these that appeared on the monastery buildings certainly create additional fear and anxiety among the Serbian population,” Djuric said.

The ancient site has been attacked by protesters several times since the Kosovo war, and has also been the focus of demonstrations against a court ruling last year that granted land to the monastery rather than to Kosovo companies.

Outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, the former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army, said meanwhile said that the KLA could not be compared to Islamic State fighters.

“The hand of someone who writes the name of the KLA in a sentence which contains the word ISIS is not a hand that wishes Albanians and communities in Kosovo well,” Thaci wrote on his Facebook page.

“Unlike other Balkans states that had jihadist or extreme pan-Orthodox units, we fought a war supported by the biggest alliance in the world, NATO,” he added.

Visoki Decani is one of the best-known Serb heritage sites in Kosovo, established in 1327 and housing the grave of its founder, King Stefan Uros ‘Decanski’, although it now sits in solidly ethnic Albanian-populated territory.