Ministry of Culture slams Pristina for honouring WWII Nazi collaborationist

BELGRADE - Serbia's Culture Ministry condemned on Friday in the strongest terms an announcement by the Pristina authorities that the house of notorious WWII war criminal Xhafer Ibrahim Deva in Kosovska Mitrovica will become a cultural centre, and noted that it was a project aimed at falsifying history and promoting crimes and violence.

"Projects aimed at revisionism and celebrating fascism - met with clear condemnation also from the international community and, in particular, the EU following a warning by the Ministry of Culture - paint the real picture regarding Pristina's commitment to further undermine co-existence in Kosovo-Metohija," the ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, it is another activity whereby Pristina is brutally misusing the term 'culture' for aggressive and reckless moves that have nothing to do with culture, it said.

"Not only is this an attempt of rehabilitating a fascist criminal, but, at the same time, clear proof what Pristina is trying to build its quasi-statehood on," the statement also said.

The ministry noted that Deva was a Nazi collaborationist involved in the establishment of the Skandererbeg SS division, notorious for its crimes against Serbs and Jews.

During WWII, Deva was Mitrovica mayor and interior minister of Albania, the statement also said, noting that Deva was decorated by Adolf Hitler in 1944.