At a time erstwhile global opinion frequently loses sight of the everyday life of tiny communities, Arno Gujon decided to talk clearly and directly. In an interview with the French paper "Frontier", the manager of the Office for Public and Cultural Diplomacy presented a number of data that item the hard situation in which the Serbian population in Kosovo and Methochia is located. His words were not diplomatically softened, but harsh and direct – as if he were speaking from the scene.
According to him, about 100,000 Serbs live in Kosovo and Methochia today, which is only 5 percent of the full population. A 100 years ago, the Serbs were the majority. Behind this numerical decline lies the past of exodus, pressure, uncertainty and deep isolation. Since 1999, more than 250,000 Serbs have been forced to leave their homes. Only in March 2004, in events that many remembered from force and destruction, an additional 10,000 people left their homes and as many as 150 Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed. Gujon didn't halt at numbers. He showed everyday life – the enclaves in which the Serbs live were brought to streets, districts or groups of houses. The northern part of Kosovo around Mitrovica remained the last bastion.
But even there, pressures are growing. Police checks, arrests without a clear basis, administrative blockades – this all becomes a fresh everyday thing. He himself, as he says, has repeatedly been detained for no reason, even though he has been moving the humanitarian organization "Solidarity for Kosovo" since 2004. The aim, emphasizes Gujon, was not only to halt the aid, but besides to further isolate the Serbian population. The force is not only physically exerted – the impact besides comes by institutions. Serbian schools and hospitals, which operate with the support of Belgrade, are increasingly targeted by inspections and closures.
Teachers and doctors work under constant pressure. Financial flows from Serbia face administrative barriers, while the Albanian local population is increasingly carrying out self-initiated actions that go through without consequences. According to Guyon, more and more families face attacks, humiliations, and frequently attempts at poisoning. The houses were repeatedly burned, vandalized schools, and the events erstwhile passers-by were attacked with firearms cars left a deep trail. Children who played on the river, a bit further from the borders of their enclave, were killed a fewer years ago – reminds Gujon, not going into detail, but leaving adequate to make the image clear.
Despite all this, most of these people want to stay – due to roots, due to faith, due to identity. And these roots are frequently the mark of attacks. With about 1,000 Orthodox sacral objects, many were destroyed or desecrated.
Monasteries specified as the Holy Archangels in Prizrena or the Bogadnica Ljeviška, included on the UNESCO planet Heritage List, are witnesses to cultural and spiritual values that are under constant pressure.
Gračanica and Patriarchate Pechenski are inactive under enhanced supervision – not due to visitors, but due to fear that they can become targets too. It is for this reason, as Gujon says, that he founded "Solidarity for Kosovo" in 2004. Then he started helping communities that were alone and abandoned. "The Serbian government has managed to keep certain structures – hospitals, schools, social services centres – but they are now under attack. any centres have already closed, hospitals are being searched," he says.
What is further worrying is the fact that, as Gujon emphasizes, local authorities are increasingly trying to completely break their organization ties with Belgrade. And this, if it continues at this rate, would mean not only isolation, but besides erasure of any traces of the Serbian community in this space.
However, despite everything that's happening, Guyon's speech trumps determination. He believes that "Belgrad will not quit regaining sovereignty over the cradle of his civilization" and recalls that the planet is changing present faster than ever. On this map of changes, possibly the KiM issue will no longer be seen by the same glasses as before. In a planet where past fades faster and faster, the question remains: how much longer does a community have that will last solely through its own will to stay – safely and freely – on the land of its ancestors?
Jacek Mędrzycki
