The land around the Monastery of Deçan, a condition for membership in the EC?

2024-03-13 12:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Monastery of Deçan

The issue of non-implementation of a decision of the Constitutional Court for the Monastery of Deçan, namely the transfer of 24 hectares of the monastery's land, has returned to a debate in Kosovo, just before the possible vote in April for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe. On March 4, the European Initiative for Stability (ESI) published a report, in which it is estimated that the property dispute between the authorities of Kosovo and the Monastery of Deçan is one of the main obstacles for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe.

Although the Council of Europe has not officially said that the implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court on the Monastery of Deçan is a condition for membership, this is also being mentioned by the ambassadors of the Quint countries, which include the USA, Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

The Ambassador of Germany in Kosovo, Jörn Rohde, in an interview for the show, 'Kallxo Përnime', said that "without respecting the decisions of the Court, Kosovo has difficulty becoming a member of the Council of Europe".

"Kosovo is a democratic state and in a democratic state you have a guarantor of the Constitution, which is the Constitutional Court. This Court has made an all-powerful decision and if you want to become a member of the EC, the decisions must be respected", says Ambassador Rohde. According him, "the time has come to have a situation where all parties - Prishtina, Deçan and Strasbourg - will be winners. Do this and then you can get a significant number of votes to become a member of the EC".

Church expectations and government attitudes

The Serbian Orthodox Church from the Diocese of Rashka-Prizren, has stated that they await the implementation of the decision of the Constitutional Court for the Monastery of Deçan. "We expect that the institutions of Kosovo will finally do their work in accordance with the law, register our land in the cadastre and issue a certificate of ownership to the monastery, in accordance with the Court's decision. We believe that this would be a an important step for the rule of law", say the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The Government of Kosovo has not recently declared about this issue, although two years ago, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, had declared that "the Constitutional Court in its judgment has made many procedural violations". "The Monastery of Deçan is not a party in the case, it is the Orthodox Church and it was mistakenly accepted, KTA (Kosovo Agency for Good Faith) of UNMIK cannot represent us after the declaration of independence, but AKP (Kosovo Agency for Privatization) was needed. This violation has been committed, there are countless violations, but the government of Kosovo adheres to justice", Prime Minister Kurti said, recalling that the government and the courts are separate powers.

Surroi: The decision must be implemented immediately

The Kosovar publicist, Veton Surroi, who at the same time is the external advisor of the negotiating team of Kosovo in the dialogue with Serbia, wrote on March 6 on the platform "X" that "the decision of the Constitutional Court on the Monastery of Deçan must be implemented immediately as an obligation of the rule of law , a sign of cultural and religious sensitivity and readiness for membership in the Council of Europe".

Municipality against

The decision of the Constitutional Court is final and obliges the institutions of Kosovo, in this case also the municipality of Deçan, to transfer 24 hectares of land to the monastery. But the leaders of the municipality of Deçan refuse to implement it and do not agree with the decision of the Constitutional Court. According to them, the properties around the monastery belong to both public enterprises, while the Court has upheld an agreement from 1997, during the time of Milosevic, when the Serbian administration had transferred those lands to the ownership of the monastery. The municipality of Deçan is led by AAK, the party of the former KLA commander, Ramush Haradinaj.

Even the League of Historians of Kosovo "Ali Hadri" branch in Deçan, have asked the Government of Kosovo and the Municipality of Deçan not to implement this judgment of the Constitutional Court. President Shkodran Imeraj said in a press conference that "the judgment of the Supreme Court and then the Constitution is based on the decisions of the violent measures of the Milosevic regime".

"Lands which in 1993 and 1997, by separate decisions of the authorities of the Milosevic regime, were donated to the Monastery of Deçan, and therefore the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, with its judgment dated 20.05.2016, declares rest juridicata the judgments of the first instance of of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo. Judgments that are based on decisions of violent measures and thus the decision of the Constitution has sealed as valid and alienable in Kosovo, the laws, decisions and by-laws of the Milosevic regime", said Imeraj .

However, Kosovo has already submitted its application for membership in the Council of Europe and a decision is expected at the end of April. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe prepares a so-called "statutory opinion" on Kosovo's request for membership in the Council of Europe. According to the procedure, the final decision is taken by the Committee of Ministers, which consists of the member states, respectively their representatives permanent diplomatic mission in Strasbourg. Serbia, which is a member of the Council of Europe but does not recognize Kosovo's independence, has warned that it will try to prevent Kosovo's admission to the Council of Europe even though the Agreement for the normalization of relations within the dialogue, agreed not to hinder Kosovo's membership in international organizations./ DW