At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Kosovo’s first deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and diaspora, Glauk Konjufca, responded to Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Gjuriq. He accused Serbia of instrumentalizing religion for political and nationalist aims.
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Konjufca said Kosovo is a secular and multiethnic state, and that harmony among faiths is one of the most distinctive features of its society. According to him, Kosovo’s citizens live in harmony regardless of their religious affiliation; as an example, he also mentioned Kosovo’s president, who is Catholic.
“It is painful that Serbia continues with this approach. Through this platform, it is conducting a partisan campaign for political purposes, ahead of the October 25 elections,” Konjufca said.
He claimed that Serbia uses the Orthodox Church for ethnic and nationalist interests, while its rhetoric, he said, fuels tensions and damages interethnic relations.
Referring to the most recent war in Kosovo, Konjufca recalled the Albanian civilians who were killed, including Catholic Albanians killed by Serbian forces. He also mentioned the Meja massacre, in which 377 people lost their lives.
According to Konjufca, Serbia’s statements about protecting Christianity should be assessed in light of its policies and actions toward Kosovo. He described this stance as part of a hybrid war against Kosovo and accused Serbia of provoking incidents with religious motives, as well as having a long history of ethnic discrimination.
In conclusion, Konjufca stressed that Kosovo’s institutions handle cases of war crimes, espionage and related investigations in accordance with legal procedures and human rights standards, regardless of ethnicity. He claimed that Serbia, by contrast, has presented accusations and evidence without carrying out proper investigations.
