Albanian Leading Push for UNESCO Renaming of Kosovo

Serb heritage in Kosovo renamed
Apr 23, 2009
Over thousand years of Serbian heritage in Kosovo has been deliberately renamed as “Kosovan” by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee who is, says Serbia, being pressured by Western powers to falsify history in order to support the claim that Kosovo is not the integral part of Serbia and that it must be independent.

“This scandalous and outrageous attempt of mistaken cultural identity has never before happened within this organization and we will not allow it to happen now,” Serbia’s foreign minister Vuk Jeremic told the reporters in Paris.

Certain countries, led by Albania, are leading an initiative for the Committee in Seville, Spain, to be held from 22-30 June, to re-register Serbian heritage as non-Serb.

“These are the holy objects not of Kosovo, but of the Serbian Orthodox Church,” Jeremic said.

Jeremic called on the international community, in particular UNESCO, to prevent attempts at re-writing the cultural history of that province.

“The Republic of Serbia, in a recent exchange of letters, signaled to UNESCO our commitment to the use of funds collected during and subsequent to the donors’ conference to the tune of 5.5 million dollars. This reaffirms the traditional, good faith partnership between UNESCO and the Republic of Serbia in the area of cultural heritage, to the benefit of all,” said Jeremic.

Jeremic warned that using culture and falsifying it in order to force Serbia to accept the illegal declaration of independence made by Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian extremists does not bring the region closer.

“I fervently believe that only when we come to look at diversity as a source of strength only when we embrace the view that individual cultures genuinely prosper and progress when they come into contact with other cultures can we say that the tide has inexorably turned in favor of peace and a common sense of destiny,” Jeremic said.

UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to rule on the illegality of Kosovo’s self-proclaimed independence proclaimed in 2008. Since 1999, Serbian heritage along with ethnic Serbs have been targeted for eradication by ethnic Albanian extremists in Kosovo.

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin has asked the international community not to repeat the mistakes made in mediating in the resolving of the conflict in Kosovo and Metohija.

“Unilateral solutions should not be enforced during mediation, and no cause should be given to suspect a mediator of being biased or inclined in favor of one of the sides,” Churkin said.

Jeremic said he could not imagine a 21st century in which an act of secession is left to the free will of ethnic communities which maintain that their human rights are treated in an unsatisfactory manner by the state in which they live.

“That would be a very unstable world. That is why I believe the Court will decide in favor of the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a sovereign democratic state,” Jeremic said.

No matter what the ICJ decides, says Jeremic, Serbia will never recognize Kosovo.

April 23, 2009
SERBIANNA

Tags: Kosovo

Pascha on Network Television

ABC Network to Air Pascha: The Resurrection of Christ
Apr 3, 2009

NEW YORK – The video presentation of “Pascha: The Resurrection of Christ,” a program highlighting Orthodox Christian Pascha, or Easter, will broadcast on ABC affiliates nationwide this month. The program, produced by Greek Orthodox Telecommunications and sponsored by FAITH: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism, highlights Holy and Great Week, focusing on the deeply moving and ancient services that recount the Gospel narrative leading to the Death and Resurrection of Christ. Archbishop Demetrios of America leads a procession of the faithful around the church and outside where, following the reading of the Gospel of the Resurrection, they proclaim the joyous hymn “Christ is Risen!”

ABC Network has released broadcast dates and times, with additional coverage information to come in the coming week. Below you will find a listing (as of April 3) of ABC affiliates by state. Please check the listing for exact date, time and station. Please contact the Department of Communications if you need assistance.

You may also log on to www.PaschaABC.goarch.org or www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/onair.aspx?PID=306 for a complete listing.

DVD copies of the program available for pre-sale ($25, plus $6 shipping). To pre-purchase please contact the Department of Communications at 212.774.0244 or email gotel@goarch.org.