Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, called the new escalation of the conflict in Kosovo another spiral, “which is unfolding before our eyes and leading to tragic consequences for the Serbian population of Kosovo, for the Serbian Orthodox Church and for Serbia in general.”
At the end of September, the police of the self-proclaimed republic refused to allow vehicles with Serbian registration plates into their territory, which provoked protests by Serbs living in Kosovo.
During the Church and World program, Metropolitan Hilarion spoke about his trips to Kosovo and Metohija: “I saw with my own eyes the monstrous consequences of the armed confrontation: I saw destroyed churches, settlements left by Serbs; I have heard many stories of innocent people being killed at the hands of the Kosovar Albanians. But all these stories are carefully hushed up in the West. The West has chosen Kosovo as a hero and Serbia as an anti-hero. This unilateral support of the West for Kosovo, while completely ignoring the will of the Serbian people, has already led to what happened, but, unfortunately, this escalation does not end. ”
“We in the Russian Orthodox Church always consistently support the Serbian Orthodox Church and its interests throughout its historical canonical territory, which undoubtedly includes Kosovo. There are the main shrines of the Serbian Church, majestic monasteries with unique frescoes. We are very concerned about the fate of these monasteries and frescoes, but most of all we are concerned about the fate of the Serbian population of the Kosovo region,” Metropolitan Hilarion stressed and expressed the hope that a political solution will be found that will satisfy both sides.
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