Declaration of the Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Against the Genocide Inflicted by the Albanians on the
Indigenous Serbian Population, Together with the Sacrilege
Of Their Cultural Monuments in Their Own Country
In Yugoslavia, ever since the end of the Second World War and up to the
present day, persecution of the Serbian population and of their religion
continues in Kosovo and Methoija, regions of their ten centuries' old
homeland.
This persecution is being administered by the Albanians, who, after the Second World War, were given Home Rule as an ethnic minority by some of the highest policy-makers in Yugoslavia. In this way, the pre-conditions for the furtherance of the persecution of the Serbian population, and of the Serbian Orthodox Church, were created.
During the war, the Albanians were the allies of Fascist Italy and Nazi
Germany. They committed untold atrocities against the Serbian population.
Mussolini, in the framework of his plan to create a "Great Albania",
transferred 60,000 people from Albania into the regions of Kosovo and
Methohija while expelling at the same time more than 100,000 Serbs from that territory. After the war, the highest authorities in Yugoslavia did nothing to correct that injustice. Moreover, the process of migration of Albanians from Albania into Yugoslavia, into the regions of Kosovo and Metohija, continued.
Here are some facts about this situation:
Today there are 700 villages and towns where not one Serb remains, and yet these places were formerly populated exclusively by Serbs. In the areas which were populated by mixed nationalities, Albanians and Serbs, only 10 percent of the Serbs are still there, but the persecution continues. Contrary to the foregoing facts, however, the western world is given false information and outright lies are told about alleged persecutions of Albanians by Serbs. It is impossible to list all the crimes against the Serbian population committed by the Albanians through the centuries. Many books have been written about the atrocities practised during the occupation of the Serbian territories by the Ottoman Empire. Under the pressure of the Albanians, who adopted Islam, a considerable number of Serbs were driven out from Kosovo and Methohija in two great migrations during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was at that point in history that the Albanians appeared, for the first time in greater numbers, on those territories. The same process was repeated during the First and Second World Wars as well as in the following period when even without a war we have been witnessing a renewed exodus of the Serbian people from their homeland.
Against the Genocide Inflicted by the Albanians on the
Indigenous Serbian Population, Together with the Sacrilege
Of Their Cultural Monuments in Their Own Country
In Yugoslavia, ever since the end of the Second World War and up to the
present day, persecution of the Serbian population and of their religion
continues in Kosovo and Methoija, regions of their ten centuries' old
homeland.
This persecution is being administered by the Albanians, who, after the Second World War, were given Home Rule as an ethnic minority by some of the highest policy-makers in Yugoslavia. In this way, the pre-conditions for the furtherance of the persecution of the Serbian population, and of the Serbian Orthodox Church, were created.
During the war, the Albanians were the allies of Fascist Italy and Nazi
Germany. They committed untold atrocities against the Serbian population.
Mussolini, in the framework of his plan to create a "Great Albania",
transferred 60,000 people from Albania into the regions of Kosovo and
Methohija while expelling at the same time more than 100,000 Serbs from that territory. After the war, the highest authorities in Yugoslavia did nothing to correct that injustice. Moreover, the process of migration of Albanians from Albania into Yugoslavia, into the regions of Kosovo and Metohija, continued.
Here are some facts about this situation:
Today there are 700 villages and towns where not one Serb remains, and yet these places were formerly populated exclusively by Serbs. In the areas which were populated by mixed nationalities, Albanians and Serbs, only 10 percent of the Serbs are still there, but the persecution continues. Contrary to the foregoing facts, however, the western world is given false information and outright lies are told about alleged persecutions of Albanians by Serbs. It is impossible to list all the crimes against the Serbian population committed by the Albanians through the centuries. Many books have been written about the atrocities practised during the occupation of the Serbian territories by the Ottoman Empire. Under the pressure of the Albanians, who adopted Islam, a considerable number of Serbs were driven out from Kosovo and Methohija in two great migrations during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was at that point in history that the Albanians appeared, for the first time in greater numbers, on those territories. The same process was repeated during the First and Second World Wars as well as in the following period when even without a war we have been witnessing a renewed exodus of the Serbian people from their homeland.