The Ministry of Culture in verification of unauthorized interventions in the Monastery of Banjska

While the recent interventions in the Banjska Monastery are visible and verified by the church authorities themselves, the Ministry of Culture is gathering information and will come out with an official position. The last project started already in September, the request to the Ministry of Culture to start damage assessment and restoration after the terrorist attack of September 24 was rejected. Even the Diocese of Raskë-Prizren does not even accept the protection of the state. The self-inflicted interventions made by the Monastery are unacceptable even for institutions such as the Kosovo Council for Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage institutions are looking for evidence of restoration interventions made without state permission in the Banjska Monastery in Zveçan. The Ministry of Culture is waiting for the reports of subordinate institutions to come up with a position on this case. The last interventions started at the beginning of September through a donation from the fans of the Belgrade football club "Crvena Zvezda". While MKRS is waiting to come out with a concrete position, such interventions are unacceptable even for institutions like the Kosovo Council for Cultural Heritage.

"Regarding the interventions in the Monastery of Banjska in Zveçan, we are currently collecting the information and will come out with an official position of the Ministry of Culture as soon as we have something concrete", it is written in the response of the Ministry of Culture, one day after the report of TIME for this occasion. This institution has not provided details regarding the commitments to verify this case. Separate evidence is the footage of Manastir after Serbia's aggression in Kosovo through a terrorist group on September 24. Scaffolding can be seen in some parts of the complex.

Three days after the terrorist attack, where the sergeant of the Kosovo Police, Afrim Bunjaku, was killed, the Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, had declared at the Government meeting the readiness to restore the damage done to this monument by the terrorist group for about 30 years . The Diocese of Raskë-Prizren had opposed this initiative. In the reaction on the website, the Diocese wrote that Ceku "refused to identify the monastery as part of the Serbian Orthodox Church". He had complained "about the continuous denial of spiritual and religious identity in Kosovo over the years". Considering the situation unacceptable, the Diocese wrote that "it cannot accept the intervention of Kosovo institutions in the life of the church and the taking under protection of the Monastery of Banjska".

"We see this initiative as a political act that does not only aim to place the religious and cultural heritage of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo under the political control of Kosovo's institutions, but also as a further step for the further degradation of our freedom and rights religious and cultural appropriation of our churches and monasteries", said the reaction of the Diocese.

However, the history of restorations and interventions in this monastery by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) is old and completely bypassing the cultural heritage authorities in Kosovo.

The last intervention started at the beginning of September this year. Despite the laws of Kosovo, where intervention in monuments requires consent from the Kosovo Institute for the Protection of Monuments, KOS has not followed any procedure. Even the intervention started in September is being done with three million dinars (25 thousand and 606 euros) of the "Delije" foundation, an organization of fans of the Belgrade football club "Crvena Zvezda" (Red Star). The news about the start of the works in Manastir was given on September XNUMX.

"The money has been paid for the renovation of the southern and eastern facades of the church dedicated to Saint Stephen", the officials of the Foundation would declare to the Serbian media. The reporting of "Kossev" made it known that the priest of the temple, Danilo, also announced a project for the restoration of the rest of the church.

However, this intervention is at least the third in a row since the last post-war in Kosovo. In 2003 and 2004 there was an intervention to restore and reconstruct part of the complex of the Medieval Monastery. In 2007, the issue of the restoration of the Monastery was again in the spotlight, when at a symposium in January of that year in Zveçan, some experts began to count the errors of the works in 2003. Then, in 2015, another project would start bigger. Funded by the so-called "Office for Kosovo and Metohija", the project included the village baths together with the church complex. The agreement was signed by the head of this office at the time, Marko Gjuriq, and the Diocese of Raskë-Prizren. According to Serbian media reports, work had been done on the surrounding wall and the addition of hostels.

All this activity of KOS is unacceptable for the Kosovo Council for Cultural Heritage, which is the independent institution established by the Assembly of Kosovo.

"This phenomenon of intervention without permission is unacceptable for the KKTK as it is an asset protected by the laws of Kosovo and must be intervened in accordance with the Law on Cultural Heritage", said Zanita Halimi, chairperson of the KKTK. According to her, the Ministry of Culture has shown readiness to support the Monastery and the damage assessment should be done and then other actions.

While the university professor of anthropology, Arsim Canolli, said that the fact that the Serbian Orthodox Church intervened in the Monastery of Banjska and did not receive permission is a legal violation and ignorance of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. According to him, the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate is the institution responsible for examining violations and interventions.

"The State of Kosovo, namely MKRS, is obliged to provide protection for cultural heritage assets protected by law, because it is within its mandate. But, like KOS, like other institutions, like simple individuals, everyone is obliged to respect the law: you can't intervene in immovable (building) cultural heritage assets without the permission of the state", he said. In this case, he added that even in the past it was seen how KOS intervened without permission in the Monastery of the Archangels and these interventions are all illegal, if they do not have permission from the state.

"However, the state of Kosovo must do its best to preserve the Orthodox churches and monasteries which are the cultural heritage of Kosovo. Damage to them and their image is damage and failure of the Republic of Kosovo. Regardless of what Serbian terrorists do, regardless of how KOS representatives act in Kosovo, Orthodox churches and monasteries are the cultural heritage of Kosovo", said Canolli, professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Pristina. He said that in issues like this the international ones should be included.

"Our international friends, international organizations, diplomats should do their best to convince the Serbian Orthodox Church that the best way to protect churches and monasteries, either from the ravages of time, from unprofessional restoration interventions, or from Serbian terrorists, is legal way and cooperation with the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, which are mandated to protect and preserve the cultural heritage of the country", said Canolli.

KOHA has learned that the recent damages caused by the terrorist group led by Milan Radoicic are being repaired.

Besides the declaration at the Government meeting and the rejection of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, on October 6 addressed a letter to the bishop of the Rashkë-Prizren Diocese, Teodosije. But, he still hasn't received an answer.

The check was addressed to Teodosije, saying that based on the legal provisions for the preservation, protection and promotion of cultural heritage, as institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, they confirm their readiness to implement this obligation. He mentioned that Kosovo's Constitution ensures the protection and preservation of cultural and religious heritage.

"As the Minister of Culture, allow me to express my concern for all the damage caused to the Monastery and offer our institutional readiness to take all the necessary actions to repair the damage caused by the terrorist attack on September 24, 2023, the rehabilitation of condition, in order to ensure the preservation of this cultural heritage asset", the letter reads. The readiness of the Ministry of Culture has been appreciated by those who deal with the field of cultural heritage.

The history of this monument is quite interesting, like many religious temples in Kosovo. Throughout history it was damaged, burned and rebuilt. It even served as a mosque. Only in the last century would the buildings of the complex be added to get the look it has today.