Serb Orthodox Church calls on Russia for support on Kosovo

Serb Orthodox Church calls on Russia for support on Kosovo
Itar-Tass - October 12, 2006 Thursday 10:43 AM EST

MOSCOW, October 12 - The Serb Orthodox Church has urged Russia to prevent the separation of the Kosovo province from Serbia.

``The consequences of this step (separation) would be particularly hard for the Balkans and the whole world, and we hope that the Russian state won't allow this to happen,'' Bishop Artemije of Raska and Prizren and Kosovo and Metohija told a news conference in Moscow on Thursday.

The Serbian bishop said Kosovo had turned into an Al-Queda base since the first peacekeepers entered it in 1999. Terrorists who will carry out operations in Europe and other countries are being trained in the Kosovo territory.

The province has turned into ``Europe's black hole where crime and trade in humans are flourishing,'' the Serb clergyman went on to say. He added more than 1,300 Serbs had been killed and same number had been abducted in Kosovo over the past seven years. Tens of thousands of houses and more than 150 Orthodox churches have been destroyed, and dozens of villages have been razed down to the ground.

``The separation of Kosovo will lead to total elimination of the Serb community in the province,'' Bishop Artemije emphasized.

``Kosovo is the heart of Serbia, it is the spiritual cradle of the Serb state. Therefore, Serbia will never agree to Kosovo independence, if this decision is imposed on it,'' the head of the Serb Orthodox Church stressed.