Kosovo Church in Busince Robbed, Over 1,100 Euros Stolen
The Church of St. Constantine and Empress Helena in the village of Busince near Kosovska Kamenica was broken into overnight before Friday, with more than 1,100 euros taken from the donation box.
Unknown assailants broke into the Church of St. Constantine and Empress Helena in the village of Busince, near Kosovska Kamenica, overnight between Thursday and Friday. More than 1,100 euros was taken from the donation box, where locals had been putting money aside to help restore the church. The break-in happened on the day of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, one of the most important Orthodox holidays.
Nebojsa Simic, president of the church board, spoke to Serbian public broadcaster RTS about the break-in.
“During the night, between Thursday and Friday, the Church of Tsar Constantine and Empress Jelena was broken into. After police from Novo Brdo carried out an on-site investigation, it was established that the donation box, which held just over 1,100 euros, had been pried open,” Simic said.
According to the church board president, the on-site investigation was attended by the parish priest, archpriest Srdjan Milenkovic, Simic himself, and several residents of Busince. Sources differ on exactly who carried it out: Radio Kosovska Mitrovica, citing RTS, reports that police from Novo Brdo handled the investigation, while Telegraf refers only to “Kosovo police,” without specifying which unit responded.
Simic told Telegraf that the break-in unsettled the entire village.
“All the residents of the village are visibly shaken by what happened,” Simic said.
About 150 Serbs currently live in Busince, one of the Serb villages in the Kosovska Kamenica municipality. Simic said that significant donor funds, along with the efforts of residents from Busince and neighboring villages, had gone into the church in recent years, yet the building still has no protection. He said local authorities should hire someone to look after the church, adding that installing video surveillance was also a necessary step.
Office for Kosovo and Metohija responds
The Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Serbian government issued a statement at 11:20 a.m., describing the break-in in Busince as the latest example of an attack on a Serbian Orthodox Church shrine.
“Not a day goes by without some ethnically motivated incident being recorded in Serb communities in Kosovo and Metohija, and almost without exception, all of them remain unresolved, with the perpetrators going without adequate condemnation or sanction,” the Office for Kosovo and Metohija said.
The Office added that the attack on a Serbian Orthodox Church building reflects “a profound disregard for religious diversity” and for the right of the Serbian people to visit their churches and celebrate their holidays in peace.
The statement also recalled an earlier incident: flags celebrating the KLA were recently hung on the fence of a church in Lipljan, while Serbian churches in Kosovo, according to the Office, are frequently targeted by thieves and vandals without adequate sanctions against those responsible.
Whether the on-site investigation in Busince will lead to any progress in solving the case remains unknown. We had not previously reported on this incident, and by the time of publication, authorities had not said whether anyone was suspected in the break-in.
