SERBS TO STAND FIRM AND PROTECT THEIR PROPERTY

BELGRADE, JANUARY 19 /SRNA/ – The registration of property in Mostar held by the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ as "state" property in the land registry is part of a broader attack on everything Serbian, but Serbs must persevere using all legitimate means to defend what is rightfully theirs, Blagoje Rebić, president of the Association of Mostar Residents in Belgrade, has stated for SRNA.

Rebić said that the news that the Orthodox cemetery in the Mostar neighborhood of Vrapčići, as well as a chapel and another Orthodox cemetery located on a separate plot, had been registered as "state" property did not surprise or shock Serbs expelled from the city, especially given that the appropriation of Serbian property is currently underway in the Federation of BiH /FBiH/ and across the region.

"There is a frontal attack on the Serbian Orthodox Church throughout the region. They want to turn the SOC into some of their own churches. What is a `Croatian Orthodox Church,` what is a `Bosnian` one? That does not exist! There is only the Serbian Orthodox Church. But what else can be expected from Sarajevo, Priština, Tirana, and even Podgorica," Rebić pointed out.

Speaking about private property, Rebić stressed that Serbs from Mostar and from the FBiH must fight by all legitimate means for what belongs to them and, while respecting others, preserve what is theirs.

He noted that this is far from easy, as the majority of Mostar residents who were expelled from their hometown never returned after the war and have no insight into the actions of local authorities.

“I know many of my former fellow citizens who have never gone back to Mostar since the war, because it is a bitter feeling. We did not leave - we were expelled! Had we stayed, we would have ended up where our compatriots did, either in the Neretva River or in camps. It is unbelievable,” Rebić emphasized.

He pointed out that Serbs in Mostar have unfortunately now been reduced to the level of a statistical error and are exposed to frequent provocations, even though after World War II the city had a Serb majority.

"There have been smashed cars and provocations, especially in Baćevići ahead of elections, when such incidents become more frequent. The question remains how to defend ourselves and how to return. We are living in difficult times. There is no respect. Force has become what rules the world, and we are very small and insignificant, but it is in our nature to stand up to every injustice. We must fight by all means," he stressed.

The Municipal Court in Mostar, after registering the Orthodox cemetery in the Vrapčići settlement as being owned by the "state" in the land registry, has done the same with a chapel and another Orthodox cemetery located on a separate plot, the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Serbs in the FBiH has warned.