Publicist Arben Idrizi argues in an opinion piece that if ignored the demolition of the surrounding wall of the future Catholic cemetery in the village of Llapushnik, could lead to tragic incidents. Idrizi criticizes the Muslim residents of Llapushnik for not allowing their Catholic neighbors to build a cemetery. He adds, “the Muslim community, which is an absolute majority, is being intolerant and has almost openly expressed its readiness to carry out this intolerance and this is what makes the whole situation so dangerous”.

The residents of the village of Llapushnik protested today in front of the Drenas/Glogovac municipal assembly building, opposing a decision to build a Catholic cemetery and a church in their village. One of the organizers of the protest said the church should not be built in the said area because that is the location of the Battle of Llapushnik between the former Kosovo Liberation Army and the Serbian forces in 1998. The protesters held placards saying “The House of God cannot be built by force”, “Stop the Catholic church” and “We don’t want any division, they want division”.

The Pristina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) reacted today against the demolition of the surrounding walls of the future Catholic cemetery in the village of Llapushnik. The CDHRF calls for a quick investigation into the incident and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. “The CDHRF hopes that this incident will not impact the good relations between followers of different religious in Kosovo and that we will have further progress of inter-religious tolerance in Kosovo,” the reaction noted.