EUROPA NOSTRA RESOLUTION ON THE RESTORATION AND SAFEGUARDING OF THE CULTURAL HERITAGE IN KOSOVO/A
The Europa Nostra Council at its Bergen meeting on 2 June 2005 :
MINDFUL of UN Resolution 1244 (1999) that set out the structure for the temporary governance of Kosovo/a by the Provisional Institutions of Self Government (PISG) under the oversight of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo/a (UNMIK) as responsible authority;
RECALLING the Ohrid Declaration (2002) on the protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict and of the Mostar Declaration (2004) of the Ministers responsible for Culture in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia (the Former Yugoslav Republic of), Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and the Minister of Cultural Heritage of Italy, concerning the enhancement of cultural heritage for the stabilisation of the region as for its sustainable development;
NOTING the European Parliament Resolution (PS_TA (2004)0271) on the situation in Kosovo (2004);
HAVING REGARD to the Belgrade Declaration (2004) adopted by the Regional Conference on preventive activities in preservation of cultural heritage in the areas affected by ethnic tensions and armed conflicts;
RECALLING the appeal addressed to the leaders of the international community by the President of Europa Nostra HRH the Prince Consort of Denmark, following the March 2004 riots, to increase inter-institutional co-operation for the safeguarding of the cultural heritage in Kosovo/a;
HAVING RECEIVED a report from the Europa Nostra Delegation that participated in the Conference of Donors for the cultural heritage in Kosovo/a, organised by UNESCO in cooperation with the Council of Europe, the European Commission and UNMIK, in Paris on 13 May 2005;
REPEATING the earlier statements made by Europa Nostra following the riots of March 2004 where the destruction of the cultural heritage was deliberately used as a means of dishonouring and wounding minority communities in Kosovo/a;
EMPHASISING its warning that the situation has not yet stabilised to such a degree that the international community can be confident that such acts will not be repeated;
WELCOMING the view now accepted by the international community that some of the monuments and sites in Kosovo/a are of the highest artistic quality and historic importance so as to merit international concern and protection to the highest degree at European and international level;
APPLAUDING the recent inclusion of the Dečani/Decan Monastery on the UNESCO World Heritage List;
RECOGNISING that the heritage in Kosovo/a, being multicultural and multiethnic, requires all communities to undertake shared responsibility for its restoration, maintenance and safeguard, making full use of aid by the international community and international institutions;
GIVING FULL SUPPORT to the important efforts that are currently being made at grass roots level by several national and international NGOs in the field of restoration;
ACKNOWLEDGING that other international programmes and initiatives are contributing and will contribute to the restoration and maintenance of the cultural heritage in Kosovo/a;
- - - - -
EUROPA NOSTRA:
EXPRESSED SATISFACTION that the Standards for Kosovo/a adopted in December 2003 and the Implementation Plan based thereon both took due note of the need to restore and protect by all available legal means the cultural heritage in Kosovo/a;
INSISTED that the international community must ensure those Standards relating to the protection of the cultural heritage are implemented in Kosovo/a as part of the process of negotiating its final status and that those Standards are given as much importance as those related to the respect of individual and minority rights, respect for the rule of law and respect for democracy and dialogue as fundamental values;
WARMLY WELCOMED the recent efforts by UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the European Commission and UNMIK, to work together towards the restoration and safeguarding of the cultural heritage in Kosovo/a, inter alia, the setting up of an Independent International Commission for the Cultural Heritage in Kosovo/a;
APPEALED TO UNESCO Member States present at the Paris Conference of Donors to confirm and implement the pledges made by their representatives, and those Governments that did not yet make any, to urgently consider following the example set by others;
CALLED on the parties involved – and in particular the Serbian Orthodox Church, the PISG, and the Government of Serbia and Montenegro – to adopt a positive and cooperative approach towards the international efforts that are being deployed in order to restore and safeguard the cultural heritage in Kosovo/a;
STRESSED the need for clear prioritisation based on the historic significance, and the cultural, and artistic values of heritage monuments and sites when deciding on the allocation of the available funds, and called for this to be done in close consultation with international and local experts, communities and stakeholders.
URGED the international community to recognise that, while restoration and rebuilding of the damaged and neglected monuments remains an urgent matter, a long term solution for the safeguarding and maintenance of the cultural heritage in Kosovo/a requires a much broader approach involving inter alia a comprehensive awareness raising and education programme aimed at rebuilding confidence, mutual tolerance and respect and building a sense of common citizenship between the different communities in Kosovo/a. NGOs such as Europa Nostra have a role to play in facilitating a civil society dialogue and in contributing to the strengthening of civil society in the field of cultural heritage in Kosovo/a (including heritage education);
EMPHASISED that Europa Nostra would make itself available to assist in broadening and deepening civil society awareness of the significance of and cooperation in safeguarding the cultural heritage in Kosovo/a, as part of our common European heritage and also of the heritage of the heritage of humankind.
