The Background

Between 1999 and 2004, significant damage was caused to religious and cultural sites in Kosovo and a large number of heritage sites were damaged or destroyed. The situation had stabilised until, in March 2004, riots broke out, during which time 34 Serbian Orthodox religious sites were identified as being damaged or destroyed.

United Nations Mission In Kosovo (UNMIK) invited UNESCO, the European Commission and the Council of Europe (CoE) to perform the damage assessments. In response, the Council of Europe (Directorate for Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage, DGIV) set up an “Emergency Action Plan for the Cultural Heritage in Kosovo” together with the European Commission, and in very close co-ordination with UNMIK. It was undertaken as an addition to the ongoing “Regional Programme for Cultural and Natural Heritage in South East Europe”.

Three joint technical assessment missions were organised by the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Commission (EC) from May to July 2004 including experts from CoE, EC, the Kosovo Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), Belgrade-affiliated experts and representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church. These missions resulted in the publication of an overall technical assessment report of all 34 sites and two further, more detailed, technical assessment reports of each site.

Based on the three technical assessment reports, a priority list was established with cost estimates and detailed proposals for urgent intervention and conservation measures to each site – medium and long term measures were also indicated where possible. To implement this work, the PISG allocated €3,7 million from its budget and the then-Acting-Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN (SRSG) allocated an additional €0,5 million from the SRSG’s reserve funds for the reconstruction programme.

In addition to the technical assessment missions, the Council of Europe initiated two other strategies one of which was to take advantage of the situation to persuade the Serbian Orthodox Church to add 11 of their monuments to the Prioritised Intervention List established within the Regional Programme for Cultural and Natural Heritage in South East Europe and therefore integrating the list with a balanced list of monuments representing that which exists in the whole of the Kosovo region. The second strategy was established on the initiative of the Council of Europe Secretary General, and with a view to streamlining the international community’s efforts to preserve all cultural heritages of Kosovo, an “Independent International Commission for the Cultural Heritage in Kosovo”, involving the Council of Europe, the European Commission and UNMIK was set up on 10 September 2004 to provide advice and support on policies in the medium- and long-term.

2004 - The Implementation Committee

Negotiations mediated by UNMIK between the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and the PISG resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in June 2004 by the Church and the PISG, establishing an Implementation Committee (IC) to manage and supervise the performance of urgent reconstruction works. The IC worked smoothly from August until mid-September 2004, when the Church withdrew from the MoU and all progress on the process of reconstruction came to a halt. The Committee was dissolved.

2005 - The Reconstruction Implementation Commission

Following numerous meetings and negotiations between UNMIK, Church representatives and Serbian authorities, the Holy Synod confirmed that the Church would re-enter the agreement and a second Memorandum of Understanding was signed in March 2005. On the basis of this new Memorandum of Understanding, the Reconstruction Implementation Commission (RIC) was established and held its first plenary meeting in May 2005 – the RIC aims to meet on a monthly basis.

International Expert Board

In recognition of the necessity to comply with European and international standards, an International Expert Board (IEB) was established in 2006 to support and monitor the quality of the reconstruction works. The IEB, under the direction of the Independent International Commission (established in September 2004), and at the request of the RIC Chairwoman, carries out field missions to review the quality of works and make recommendations to the RIC on ways to improve its methods in line with European and international standards.

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