MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Respect for and protection of Serbian Orthodox religious sites and the Serbian minority in Kosovo in connection with the provision of EU funding – E-002519/2024(ASW)

The Commission addresses fundamental and minority rights through the regular policy dialogue with Kosovo[1] and its annual enlargement reports. In its 2024 report[2], the Commission calls on Kosovo to safeguard existing mechanisms protecting the rights of non-majority communities and to improve their implementation.

The EU in Kosovo is in regular contact with the Serbian Orthodox Church a nd co-chairs the Implementation and Monitoring Council, which serves as a platform to solve disputes between the government of Kosovo and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

With the 2023 Agreement on the path to normalisation[3], Kosovo and Serbia agreed to formalise the status of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and afford a strong level of protection to the Serbian religious and cultural heritage sites. The EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue continues to work with both Kosovo and Serbia on the implementation of their respective obligations stemming from the Agreement.

Since 2014, the Instruments for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II[4] and IPA III[5]) provided EUR 125.5 million for supporting the rule of law and fundamental rights, including over EUR 7.5 million for various projects benefitting Christian organisations and the Orthodox community in Kosovo. This includes EU assistance of EUR 5.6 million under Inter-community Dialogue through inclusive Cultural Heritage Preservation Initiative[6] aiming to reconstruct cultural heritage sites.

EU assistance in Kosovo is implemented based on the formal procedures and the strict rules applicable to EU funding.

• [1] ^* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/1999 and the International Court of Justice Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
• [2] https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/document/download/c790738e-4cf6-4a43-a8a9-43c1b6f01e10_en?filename=Kosovo%20Report%202024.pdf
• [3] https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/belgrade-pristina-dialogue-agreement-path-normalisation-between-kosovo-and-serbia_en
• [4] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32014R0231
• [5] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32021R1529
• [6] This programme funded by the EU and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme covers three contracts: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/migration/ks/CulturalHeritage_booklet_ENG_web.pdf, https://www.undp.org/kosovo/projects/inter-community-dialogue-through-inclusive-cultural-heritage-preservation and https://www.undp.org/kosovo/projects/cultural-heritage-driver-intercommunity-dialogue-and-social-cohesion