Serbian Cultural and Religious Heritage in Kosovo from Ahtisaari’s Special Zones to the Final Status
Serbian Cultural and Religious Heritage in Kosovo from Ahtisaari’s Special Zones to the Final Status

Author(s): Stefan Surlić, Igor Novaković
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Inter-Ethnic Relations, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development
Published by: ISAC - Centar za međunarodne i bezbednosne poslove
Keywords: Serbian religious and cultural heritage; Ahitsaari Plan; special protective zones for monasteries; Vatican; Mount Athos; enclave/exclave; exterritoriality; condominium
Summary/Abstract: The analysis identifies protection mechanisms for the Serbian religious and cultural heritage in Kosovo defined by the Ahtisaari Plan as the basic normative framework. The authors start with the claim that the status of cultural heritage was unjustifiably omitted from the Brussels dialogue, and that this topic, due to identity-related sensitivity, can determine the citizens’ side when supporting a possible final agreement between Belgrade and Pristina. In the first part, the analysis provides a comprehensive overview of legal guarantees and experience in their implementation, deals in detail with examples of abuse and non-compliance with the adopted normative framework, criticism of the “special” status for Serbian heritage, and open disputes between the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and Kosovo authorities. In the second part, the text provides a comparative overview of the special statuses of holy places in Europe. Since extraterritorial status as the final model for Serbian religious and cultural heritage is often mentioned in public, the analysis deals with models of territorial solutions for smaller units, in the form of enclaves, extraterritorialities and condominiums.

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