A Diocese of the Serbian Church Has Protested the Arrests of Believers in Kosovo
The Raška-Prizren Diocese has protested the use of violence by Kosovo police following the celebration of Vidovdan.
On June 30, 2026, Kosovo police arrested 37 people immediately after the celebration of Vidovdan, using force against believers during searches. Among those detained were a minor teenager with his father and a man in national costume. This was reported by Orthodoxia News Agency.
The Raška-Prizren Diocese accused Kosovo of systematic discrimination against Serbs and demanded an impartial investigation involving OSCE and EULEX missions. The trial of 36 detainees, who do not admit guilt, is scheduled for July 1, 2026.
In the diocese's statement, the actions of the authorities were described as unacceptable, emphasizing that the believers deliberately refrained from using national symbols due to previously imposed restrictions.
"The Kosovo authorities protect the Serbian community only from the display of national symbols and consider them in themselves symbols of hatred and intolerance," the diocese stated. They also raised the question of whether the Serbian people are being deprived of the right to remember their fallen and to gather with dignity on their native land.
Church representatives noted that Gazimestan is not merely a monument, but a place of prayer and spiritual testament. "Vidovdan is not a threat to anyone. It is not a call to hatred, but a day of remembrance, repentance, unity, and hope," the statement emphasized. One of the victims confirmed the facts of violence, reporting that police officers beat everyone who offered the slightest resistance during the searches.
The Diocese called on the international community not to limit itself to general words about the rule of law, but to ensure its real application. "Human rights must not depend on the community to which one belongs... We ask only for minimal rights — the right to pray and return home without fear of being arrested or humiliated," the Raška-Prizren Diocese concluded.
As the SPJ reported, Patriarch Porfirije called Serbs killed in 1992–1995 "martyrs".
