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Kosovo media: Serbian religious sites restored by Kosovo government; Eparchy denies (KoSSev)

Kosovo Albanian media reported on Sunday that the Kosovo police is guarding the Serbian Orthodox churches for 9 years now, having received this responsibility from KFOR, KoSSev portal reported. According to the data of Raska-Prizren Eparchy, although it is true that 16 churches in the territory of Kosovo are under the constant protection of the Kosovo police, while two more are regularly visited by police patrols, one of the most important Serbian Orthodox Church temples in Kosovo, Visoki Decani Monastery is still under KFOR’s protection. In addition, the media also reported that all Orthodox churches damaged or destroyed during the March 2004 violence were restored with funds of the Kosovo government, which the Eparchy also denied. Our Lady of Ljevis Church in Prizren represents the most famous example of a church damaged during the March violence in 2004, which has not been restored even today, and which is under UNESCO protection, Raska-Prizren Eparchy underlined. According to the Eparchy, about a third of the church’s frescoes have not been cleaned and restored. In addition, they emphasized that money used for the reconstruction of damaged or destroyed buildings in 2004 is actually the money of the European Union, but that reconstruction projects have been implemented through Kosovo institutions under the EU surveillance. The Eparchy of Raska-Prizren also recalled that about 120 monasteries, churches and other cultural monuments were damaged or destroyed between 1999 and 2004, stressing there were no programs for the reconstruction of objects destroyed during this period. The objects destroyed in this period include a significant number of Category 1 monuments, such as the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin in Musutiste village or the church of St. George in Resane, both built in the 14th century. Some religious sites were also damaged after 2004. For more see at: https://kossev.info/kosovo-media-serbian-religious-sites-were-restored-by-the-kosovo-government-the-eparchy-denies/