The Kosovo government has ordered
the Cadastral Agency to implement the Constitutional Court
decision issued in past years and return to the Visoki Decani
Monastery 24 hectares of land it owned and of which the
monastery had been deprived. Speaking today at the end of a
government session, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said the decision
was made to ease the path toward Kosovo's admission to the
Council of Europe.
The government, he remarked, could either fulfill the
condition established by the High Court or do without Council of
Europe membership. "We decided to exercise common sense," he
said. While still considering such a decision harmful, the
premier pointed out that Council of Europe membership would be a
historic victory for Kosovo.
For years, the international community had been urging
Pristina to return the land to the Monastery, in compliance with
the Constitutional Court's 2016 decision. Located not far from
the town of Pec/Peja in western Kosovo, the Serbian Orthodox
Visoki Decani Monastery is famous for its precious medieval
frescoes and is, therefore, a destination for many visitors and
tourists.
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