Division of Kosovo would cause a domino effect across the Balkans with devastating consequences for all, Abbot of the Serbian Orthodox Church Visoki Decani Monastery, Sava Janjic said, Serbian media reported.

In such scenario everyone would lose, and benefits would be miserable. Serbs would vanish from Kosovo, and it would become a model for the creation of ethnically cleaned states, Abbot Janjic further said. Reconciliation is a prerequisite for long-term solution and not otherwise, he added. According to the KoSSev portal reaction of the Abbot Janjic is the first reaction from the Serbian side, following a series of articles in Pristina based media on alleged negotiations between Belgrade, Pristina and Tirana on exchange of territories. KoSSEv portal also reported that German, American and Austrian embassies in Kosovo are against this idea, including Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. However, KoSSev portal further wrote there are claims it is Hashim Thaci himself, who is negotiating on alleged “exchange of territories” and “division” with the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. “If there is a solution to Kosovo status, division is certainly not the one. We know that majority of Serbs do not live in the north of Kosovo, but in Albanian majority areas. The most important Serbian Orthodox Church shrines are located there. The Serbian Orthodox Church consistently opposes change of internationally recognized Serbia’s borders. Division of Kosovo would open the Pandora box of violence and cause a domino effect across the Balkans with devastating consequences for all,” Abbot Janjic said. “Instead of playing with the lives of dozens of thousands of innocent people, the solution to the current problems in Kosovo should be sought in the dialogue and based on the international law, by encouraging cooperation, reconciliation, respect of human rights and heritage,” he added. In a scenario of division everyone would lose, and benefits would be miserable. Serbs would vanish from Kosovo (very hard heritage for Belgrade). What would remain from ethnic Albanian Muslim Kosovo would even lose an illusion of being multiethnic (this would be even less art active to many in the EU). This way international “project of multiethnic Kosovo” would finally collapse and instead become a model for creating ethnically cleaned states. Abbot Janjic added dialogue must continue and be properly focused and measurable with success in the rule of law, protection of minority rights, cultural heritage, return of displaced persons, guarantees of private properties and abandoning hate speech. “Reconciliation is a prerequisite for any long-term solution and not otherwise,” he said, KoSSev portal reported.