Porfirije to Putin, Trump, Pope Leo: Do not allow the Serbian people to be expelled from Kosovo and Metohija

Porfirije to Putin, Trump, Pope Leo: Do not allow the Serbian people to be expelled from Kosovo and Metohija Serbian Patriarch Porfirije has written to Pope Leo XIV, Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump, and other world leaders, urging them to influence Pristina to suspend a law deemed discriminatory. The Patriarch warns that this law could jeopardize the operations of the University in Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbian schools, the healthcare system for Serbs, and the very existence of the Serbian people and Orthodox holy sites. He emphasizes the critical importance of preserving human lives and seeking a peaceful, consensual solution.

• Serbian Patriarch Porfirije sent letters to Pope Leo XIV, Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and UNESCO Director-General Khaled El Enany.
• The letters call on these leaders to use their authority to persuade Pristina to halt the implementation of a discriminatory law on foreigners.
• The Patriarch warns that the law could negatively impact the University in Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbian schools, the healthcare system for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, and the survival of the Serbian people and Orthodox holy sites.
• He states that the law would prevent Serbs from receiving education and healthcare, lead to job losses for educators and healthcare workers, and cause a mass departure of Orthodox Serbs from the region.
• The Patriarch highlighted the significant concentration of Christian holy sites in the area, including four on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in danger.
• The Serbian Orthodox Church seeks a peaceful solution and expects Serbian authorities to find a compromise.
• Pristina plans to implement the ‘law on foreigners’ on March 15, which would treat individuals without documents from temporary Pristina institutions as foreigners.