UNMIK/PR/868
Sunday 17 November 2002

SRSG Michael Steiner flies to the scene of damaged Serbian churches, announces quick action

SRSG Michael Steiner, accompanied by Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, flew to the sites where two Serbian Orthodox churches were damaged overnight in Istog/Istok municipality.

KFOR Commander General Fabio Mini and Istog Municipal Assembly President Fadil Ferati joined the delegation, which included UNMIK Police Commissioner Stefan Feller and Director of Administration Philip Cooper, who remained in the area overnight to launch reconstruction work on one of the churches Monday morning.

"You see us here together…We're all united in condemning these acts of religious vandalism," SRSG Michael Steiner said outside the Church of All Serbian Saints in the town of Djurakovac, where three explosions gutted the church's interior.

"We will not speculate on who is responsible. The Police Commissioner is here and has already begun his investigation," said the SRSG. "KFOR will look into additional security where necessary. I spoke with President Rugova and Mr. Thaci, who also condemned these acts."

The SRSG added that repairs to the church in Djurakovac will be financed from the Kosovo Consolidated Budget.

"We will start from tomorrow morning to rebuild and to express to the public that we will not tolerate this behaviour," he told media outside the church.

"These responsible for these acts want to undermine Kosovo's success, especially on the eve of the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. They will not achieve their aim."

(UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrives in Kosovo tomorrow for a two-day visit).

Istog municipal president Ferati expressed his gratitude for the quick reaction by SRSG Michael Steiner and the Prime Minister. He and Prime Minister Rexhepi condemned the attack on the churches.

Some time around midnight, a series of explosions ripped into two churches which sit about 5 kilometers apart. The Church of St. Basil, built in 1939 in the village of Ljubovo, was totally destroyed, with only the front façade still standing.