Rastovac Siamashvili: Kosovo and Metohija is the spiritual and cultural heart of the Serbian people and state

The permanent delegation of Serbia to UNESCO assessed that it is really worried about the presentation of the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania, in which an attempt was made to abuse and politicize UNESCO for the sake of affirmation of the so-called Kosovo.

In the response of Ambassador Rastovac Siamashvili, within the general political debate at the 41st session of the General Conference of UNESCO, it was emphasized that Serbia is strongly committed to the principles of UNESCO and emphasized that full depoliticization of its work is one of the key preconditions for unhindered implementation of this organization's mandate.

"It is extremely worrying to hear from this podium calls for the politicization and abuse of UNESCO as an instrument for affirming the illegal, unilaterally declared independence of the so-called Kosovo, contrary to international law, including the legally binding UNSC Resolution 1244", the ambassador said, reminding that, in accordance with it, Kosovo and Metohija is an integral part of Serbia, a member state of the UN and UNESCO, under the temporary administration of the UN.

Rastovac Siamashvili underlined that Kosovo and Metohija is the spiritual and cultural heart of the Serbian people and state, as well as that making political decisions on statehood is not within the mandate of UNESCO.

"Membership in UNESCO, a true symbol of the united efforts of the international community to protect the world's cultural heritage, is certainly incompatible with the deliberate and systematic destruction of Serbian heritage in the Province, with the perfidious goal of removing the traces of centuries of Serbian existence", Rastovac Siamashvili pointed out, adding that exactly because of that, four monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in our Province have been placed on the UNESCO list of endangered world heritage.

"We call on Albania to do the right thing, and that is to encourage Pristina to participate in the dialogue under the auspices of the EU as the only adequate format for finding mutually acceptable solutions to all issues", said Ambassador Rastovac Siamashvili, concluding that it is an obligation of all member states of the UN to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of other UN member states.