Albanians demonstrate against arrival of displaced Serbs

PRISTINA - Several hundred ethnic Albanians in the Musutiste village in the south of Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) has blocked the passage to the local Orthodox church to prevent displaced Serbs from Suva Reka and the surrounding villages from getting there to celebrate the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.

“A large group of Albanians prevented the passage of four buses and several cars with the displaced persons on board from reaching the church. The protesters who gathered there were carrying Albanian flags and other banners,” head of the Prizren District (where the Musutiste village is situated) Jovica Buduric has said.

In a statement for a show broadcast in Serbian by Radio Television of Kosovo, Buduric said the Albanians blocked the passage of the Serbs at eight in the morning. The police now stands between the protesters and the displaced and does not allow them to get near each other, he said.

Also, Serbs displaced from Djakovica were not allowed to enter that city in southwestern KiM and mark the Feast in the in a local Orthodox church.

President of the Association of displaced persons from Djakovica Djokica Stanojevic has said that the group of displaced Serbs from the city had instead to attend the liturgy in the medieval monastery of Visoki Decani, an endowment of Serbian King Stefan and Tsar Dusan of the Nemanjic dynasty.