February 26, 2008

KIM Info Newsletter 26-02-08

Sermon of Metropolitan Amfilohije after the prayer service in front of St. Sava Cathedral

Kosovo and Metohija must not be a word forgotten for us nor for anyone else in the world. Today we have been told by those who want to cross us out from history and erase us by taking Kosovo and Metohija from us that it is a unique case. That is true, Kosovo and Metohija is a unique case, in its fate and in what the powerful leaders of this world seek to make of it at the beginning of the 21st century.

Belgrade, February 21

We have belonged to this Europe from the very start of our self-knowledge, historical maturity and we desire community with its people in dignity and equality.

If the price that the EU, as a community of interests, asks is that we renounce ourselves, our historical memory, the Kosovo covenant that is by its nature a New Testament sealed not with ink but with the blood of our people – we cannot accept. As a people we have never accepted, neither before Prince Lazarus nor after him until 1941 nor today, such blackmail and such calls to trample on our dignity but on the justice that upholds states and cities. To trample on the dignity of all the countries and peoples of this world is something we cannot allow ourselves.

Today we are here for the same holy purpose: to defend not only our own honor and reputation, our freedom and dignity but also the dignity of a humiliated Europe. For Europe has never been more humiliated than it is today. The USA has never been more humiliated that it has humiliated itself today with such injustice against an honorable people and its dignity.

As we stand before God, before this holy shrine, let us stand upright and as it was resolved in 1941 and as it is written in our Kosovo choice: if we are to live, let us live in freedom and if we are to die, let us die for freedom, not just our own freedom and the freedom of our Kosovo and Metohija but for the freedom of every honorable person and people on the face of this earth.

May God return reason to the powerful leaders who today by their decisions are casting shame on their peoples, trampling justice and honesty. And may God grant us loyalty to our Kosovo covenant, our human and national dignity, loyalty to the holy reliquaries of the Archbishops of Peć, the Holy King Stefan of Dečani and the holy Great-martyr Lazarus of Kosovo.

Through their prayers, o Lord, strengthen this people in its sense of justice and everything that is good and enlighten all persons and people that they may live in justice, peace and God’s compassion.

The entire plateau at the St. Sava’s Cathedral and the National Library
was filled with many faithful who participated in the Prayer

I would just like to conclude by asking you to depart in the same peace of God in which we gathered around this holy shrine. Let us part in peace and let me ask all those who gathered today in this capital to demonstrate that we are a dignified people, that we are not a people that destroys and devastates but a people that for centuries has built and to this day continues to build its soul with dignity and its future. Therefore, in God’s peace with a prayer to God that He intercede with us and among us and with the people of this world and accomplish what we mere mortals cannot that we may show that we are truly the descendants of the Great-martyr Lazarus of Kosovo and all those who gave their lives for their dear ones and their fatherland.

May God bless you and bestow upon you every form of divine and worldly advancement. Amen, God grant that it be so!

translation Snezana de Berthet

Mp3 recording of the Sermon in Serbian is available at Svetigora web-site:

Communiqué of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church on riots after the protest against Kosovo’s independence

Informativna service SOC

Belgrade, February 22, 2008

The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church after the yesterday’s public protest and the Moleban prayer for the salvation of Kosovo and Metohija appeals on Serbian Orthodox people to intensify prayers for protection of our people on Kosovo and Metohija and the peace among us and the entire world.

SOC as well as numerous representatives of the political and public life in Serbia
strongly condemned yesterday’s riots of hooligans in front of foreign Embassies and the
streets of Belgrade, particularly the setting fire in the US Embassy (photo)

Let us not allow ourselves to be driven by any worldly interests and do anything which is unworthy of the People of God, anything inhuman. Let us beware in these difficult times of all irrational and insane acts of violence which could be seen yesterday in Belgrade to our great regret and shame.

One can say that most probably these acts were provoked by a great injustice inflicted on Serbia and the Serbian people by proclaiming of an illegal state on the Serbian territory or find other excuses. However such typically orchestrated acts of thieves and mafia-oriented individuals and groups which use the national catastrophe as an alibi for their unlawful and indecent acts deserves regret and every condemnation.

A magnificent and prayerful assembly of people was tainted by acts of these irresponsible individuals and criminal groups. They showed by this that they do not really care about Kosovo and Metohija but only about chaos, looting and disorder. This is not the way to defend the right and justice neither of the Serbian people nor of Kosovo and Metohija but essentially such acts are undermining such efforts. In fact these acts inflict undeserved shame upon the Serbian people, its justified struggle for preservation of its holy sites, its identity, dignity and national and state integrity.

Serbian Orthodox Church hereby expresses its regret and sorrow for such shameful and irresponsible acts of individuals and groups towards the public order, the property of our Capital and the Embassies of some countries.

We appeal on our people to preserve national honor, justice and dignity as our national values and eternal values of humanity.

Holy Synod of Bishops

Serbian Orthodox Church

In attempts to restore peace and order after riots of isolated groups of hooligans the police
intervened on several locations in Belgrade. Dozens sustained light injuries, among them several policemen. Beside sporadic incidents and the attack on the Embassy which deserves utter condemnation the large majority of people expressed their protest in a dignified way
concluding the rally with a prayer at St. Sava’s Cathedral

Massive Kosovo rally held in Belgrade

21 February 2008 | 10:30 -> 18:43 | Source: B92, Beta

BELGRADE -- Hundreds of thousands of Serbians gathered today in Belgrade for a Kosovo protest.

The rally, called by the country's top officials in protest of the Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of secession, started at 17:15 CET, with a choir rendition of the national anthem, Bože Pravde (God of Justice).

The stage background was a huge Serbian national flag and a banner reading, Kosovo Is Serbia.

The plateau and surrounding streets in front of the Parliament Hall were filled with protesters, who were first addressed by Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, followed by the deputy leader of Serbia's largest opposition party, the Radicals (SRS), Tomislav Nikolić. President Boris Tadić was on a one-day visit to Romania today and did not attend.  MPs from G17 Plus and the Liberal-Democrats (LDP) were also absent.

Koštunica told the crowd that Serbia will never recnognize the unilateral declaration "for as long as it exists as a state".

"For as long as we live – Kosovo is Serbia and our brothers in Kosovo are not alone and forgotten! While we reject ultimatums and accept friendship – Serbia is free! The pledge has been made, and the whole world has heard it. And everyone knows the value of a Serbian pledge," the prime minister said.

He continued by saying that Serbia is not alone, and that it will not forget the friendship and principled policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The mention of Putin's name drew loud cheers from the crowd.

"Kosovo – this is Serbia's first name. Kosovo belongs to Serbia. Kosovo belongs to the Serb nation. This is how it has been since the dawn of time. This is how it will be forever. There is no force, no threat, no punishment severe and horrible enough to make any Serb, anywhere, ever say otherwise but – Kosovo is Serbia!", the prime minister said.

Koštunica also said that Serbia must not resist under pressure to recognize Kosovo's independence since that would mean it gave up on its very identity.

"They are asking us to forsake our brothers in Kosovo. They are telling our brothers in Kosovo that they have, without leaving their homes, their fields, gone to another state. They have not and they never will! They tell them we are separated. We are not and never will be," Koštunica said.

He added that Serbia did not break any human, divine or European law, but that it instead reached out to everyone, "and yet, this was not enough".

"It will suffice, they say, that you Serbs accept to be humiliated. To sign your own humiliation. No one will ever win a mandate from the Serbian people to accept such an ignoble trade-off. Never, and no one!", Koštunica told the rally.

He also said Serbia will seek its place in the family of nations under the same conditions guaranteed to other countries.

"You can deal with us, Serbs, in a friendly manner, but you can never deal with us by force. This is what we inherited from our ancestors. If we agree to [succumb to] force and fear, every sacrifice of everyone who created Serbia will have been in vain. If we accept this violence, each battle won by our ancestors, will be lost by us today," Koštunica said.

He repeated that Serbia has annulled and will continue to annul each act of the illegal and false state on its territory.

Koštunica ended his speech with an exclamation, "Kosovo is Serbia!" to cheers from the huge crowd.

His speech was several times interrupted by chanting of, "Kosovo in the heart of Serbia", and, "Russia".

"I will not rest until Kosovo and Metohija is under Serbia's control," Tomislav Nikolić said as he started his speech.

"On behalf of all the citizens of Serbia, I promise I will not rest until Kosovo and Metohija is under Serbia's control. Hitler couldn't take it away, these nowadays won't be able either. We owe it to ourselves and our children," he said.

"We grieved for two days only, and on the third, Serbs set outposts on fire, on the fourth, they organized a rally that Serbia has never seen before," he continued.

Nikolić added that Serbia will remember who recognized Kosovo's independence, but also those who did not, and urged Europe to reconsider and return to the path of friendly relations with the Serbian nation.

"Serbs know how to forgive, but they better not prompt us to show how we fight for Kosovo, they don't want that. They better not force us to go to Kosovo to hold a rally like this," he concluded.

Students and deans from the universities in Belgrade and Priština also addressed the mass rally, as well as RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik.

Serbia's best tennis player Novak Đoković spoke in a previously recorded message, to say that he and his family are with Serbia in this difficult time, and that Kosovo belongs to Serbia.

The Serb people are ready defend what's theirs, Đoković said.

He regretted not being able to be with the protesters and added he thanked everyone who came to show the world that "Serbia is not small, that it is united and that we are ready to defend that which belongs to us".

"Kosovo is Serbia and it must remain this way forever," Đoković ended his address.

A number of other well-known athletes and actors also addressed the crowd.

After a speech given by film director Emir Kusturica, the choir sang Vostani Serbie, (Rise Up Serbia), a song from the country's 19th century revival, after centuries of Ottoman occupation.

The mass of people, which according to the estimates numbered 250,000, then proceeded toward the St. Sava Temple, where a prayer for the safety of the Kosovo Serbs was held.

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