Gouillon: 113 attacks against Serbs registered in Kosovo-Metohija in 2024

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Arnaud Gouillon said on Monday 31 attacks on Serbian cultural assets had been registered in Kosovo-Metohija since last year and that there had been as many as 113 attacks on the Serb population in the province since the beginning of this year.

Buildings and monuments, as well as people, are in danger, Gouillon said in a statement released by the Office.

"I spoke on that subject in French at UNESCO. By preserving holy sites and monuments, we are also preserving the people who live there and who in fact founded the unique culture that is alive in Kosovo-Metohija to this day," Gouillon said.

He said endangered Serbian cultural assets in Kosovo-Metohija had been the subject of an exhibition recently opened in Paris.

"Kosovo is at the core of the identity of the Serbs but, unfortunately, that cultural heritage is in danger. Exactly 20 years ago, UNESCO inscribed the Visoki Decani monastery, Gracanica, the Church of the Holy Mother of Ljevis and the Patriarchate of Pec in the list of endangered world heritage. By doing so, it demonstrated that the heritage is exceptionally valuable but that it is sensitive and fragile and in danger from a pogrom by extreme (ethnic) Albanians," Gouillon noted.