PRIŠTINA TARGETS SERBIAN WORSHIPPERS: Visits to holy sites in Kosovo and Metohija from August 1 only with a licensed tour guide!

Pristina’s new rules stipulate that, starting on August 1, organized groups of pilgrims visiting Serbian holy sites in Kosovo and Metohija must be accompanied by a licensed tour guide. Ivana Ćorić, an organizer of pilgrimage trips to Kosovo and Metohija, says the uncertainty could discourage worshippers from coming. Luka Jovanović, a teaching assistant at the Department of History of the Faculty of Philosophy in Kosovska Mitrovica, points out that the decision is not merely technical, but a measure that could weaken the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church and its connection to the monasteries.

Starting on August 1, organized groups of pilgrims visiting Serbian holy sites in Kosovo and Metohija will be required to be accompanied by a tour guide licensed by the authorities in Pristina. The Diocese of Raška and Prizren warns that religious pilgrimages cannot be equated with commercial tourist arrangements.

Ivana Ćorić, an organizer of pilgrimage trips to Kosovo and Metohija, says that pilgrimage organizers did not receive timely official notification of the new rules. They learned about them “through social media and leaflets handed out to certain groups while leaving the province.”

“We were caught off guard, surprised and, on the other hand, frightened. We do not know what this decision means for pilgrimage agencies and humanitarian organizations that are increasingly coming to Kosovo and Metohija,” Ćorić emphasized.

She believes the new measure could discourage worshippers in Serbia and reduce the number of their visits, noting that trips have already been scheduled for August, while it remains unclear how the new rules will be applied.

“Until we arrive at the crossing itself, we do not know what may happen to us. We will have to wait and see how other groups get through,” the guest of Radio Television of Serbia’s Morning Program stressed.

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Jovanović: The decision is not a technical application of regulations

Luka Jovanović, a teaching assistant at the Department of History of the Faculty of Philosophy in Kosovska Mitrovica, believes the new rules should not be viewed as an accidental measure or merely a technical application of regulations, but as a decision directed against the Serbian community and the Serbian Orthodox Church.

“I believe this is an attempt to separate the Serbian people from what represents the pillar of their existence in Kosovo and Metohija, and that is the monasteries. They have become places of pilgrimage and symbols of the survival of the Serbian Orthodox Church,” Jovanović claims.

He explains that the growing number of pilgrimage groups has become increasingly visible in the province and recalls previous incidents during monastery visits, including arrests outside the Visoki Dečani Monastery.

“All of this has served to discourage people from coming again, but it seems to me that this measure will also have the opposite effect. It could further strengthen the devotion of believers to their holy sites,” the historian said.

Priests accompanying pilgrims as a temporary solution

Ćorić points out that it has already been common practice, whenever possible, for pilgrimage groups to travel with a priest or monk, emphasizing that these are religious journeys—whose primary purpose is visiting holy sites—and not tourist excursions.

“It is always better when a spiritual father accompanies the trip, and it would be good for that practice to continue. The Diocese of Raška and Prizren is ready for dialogue, but its representatives, like the faithful, are concerned,” Ćorić said.

Jovanović believes that the implementation of the new rules could have broader consequences for the position of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren, as a continuation of attempts to weaken the Serbian Orthodox Church’s ties with its holy sites in Kosovo and Metohija.

“I see this regulation as another in a series of pressures on the Serbian Orthodox Church. The goal is to weaken its position and present certain holy sites as general Christian or Albanian,” Jovanović concluded.

The full appearance of Ivana Ćorić and Luka Jovanović on the Morning Program can be viewed in the video at the beginning of the article.