Crkve podelile Vlahe u istočnoj Srbiji
Pokušaji Rumunske pravoslavne crkve da proširi svoj uticaj u istočnoj Srbiji izaziva tenzije na ovom području.
Piše: Saša Trifunović iz Bora
U istočnoj Srbiji ne postoje medjunacionalne i medjuetničke tenzije. Ipak, pojavom Rumunske pravoslavne crkve (RPC), nastala je podela među vernicima vlaške nacionalnosti koja preti da naruši viševekovne dobrosusedske odnose.
Bogosluženju RPC na tom prostoru borskog okruga, gde živi oko 150.000 hiljada ljudi i dominira vlaško stanovništvo, protivi se eparhija Srpske pravoslavne crkve (SPC).
Teritorije koje naseljavaju Vlasi prostiru se i ka Požarevcu, Jagodini i Paraćinu a prema poslednem popisu, oko 40.000 stanovnika ove regije su se izjasnili kao Vlasi.
Iako govore istim jezikom i pripadaju pravoslavnoj veroispovesti, jedni sebe nazivaju Vlasima dok drugi tvrde da su Rumuni.
I jedni i drugi se zaklinju da im je Srbija matična domovina. Dok se jedni ispovedaju na srpskom jeziku, drugi traže od sveštenika da im se obraća na vlaškom, koji je zapravo arhaičan rumunski i koji oni govore generacijama unazad.
Zbog tih opredeljenja, netrpeljivost vernika dve crkve u ovom delu Srbije dostigla je takve razmere da je u dva navrata reagovala policija.
Sveštenik Rumunske pravoslavne crkve u Malajnici, paroh Bojan Aleksandrović, naveo je da su se nakon verskog obreda na rumunskom jeziku 23. januara ove godine policajci u prisustvu sveštenika SPC raspitivali kod rodjaka umrle starice o tome ko je držao opelo.
Aleksandrović je o tome obavestio načelnika borske policije Slavišu Barca, koji je odgovorio da je policija postupila u skladu sa pravilom službe.
"Obaveza policajaca je bila da prikupi obaveštenja na terenu zbog najavljenog incidenta i nisu imali nameru da bilo koga zastraše. Nakon dobijenih podataka o sahrani i o tome ko je obavio opelo, policijski službenici su se udaljili", rekao je Barac za Balkan insajt.
Paroh RPC, medjutim, tvrdi da je tim "sramnim činom pokušano zastrašivanje meštana".
"To je drsko kršenje Ustava Srbije koji garantuje verska prava svim gradjanima bez obzira na veru i naciju", naveo je Aleksandrović.
"Nemamo problema sa Srbima koji žive ovde, već sa sveštenicima koji su došli u ove krajeve sa nekom predrasudom", rekao je ovaj paroh.
Ovaj događaj osudio je Nacionali savet Vlaha, čije je sedište u Boru, i potom uputio protestno pismo Ministarstvu vera i Ministarstvu unutrašnjih poslova, ali i službi za ljudska i manjinska prava i Pravoslavnoj crkvi.
"Želimo da započnemo dijalog sa svim državnim organima i crkvom kako bi se ubuduće otklonili slični problemi", kaže za Balkan insajt član Saveta, Zoran Janković.
Mnogo ozbiljniji incident dogodio se maja 2005. godine pri pokušaju Saveza Vlaha Srbije (SVS) da obeleži 610 godina od bitke na Rovinama kod Negotina.
Obeležavanje i parastos žrtvama ove bitke, u kojoj se vojska vlaškog vojvode Mirčea Starog sukobila sa vojskom turskog cara Bajazita, trebalo je da u manastiru Koroglaš održi paroh Aleksandrović.
Grupa meštana koja se protivi delovanju te crkve, sprečila je ulazak pristalica SVS u ovo svetilište povicima "idite u Rumuniju, ovde nemate šta da tražite".
Atmosferu koja je pretila da preraste u fizički obračun sprečila je lokalna polcija.
Sekretar Saveza Vlaha Srbije Dušan Prvulović kaže da je obeležavanje ovog jubileja bila interna stvar ove organizacije i javno upitao da li je parastos sprečen uz podršku SPC.
Animozitet Timočke eparhije prema takozvanom vlaškom pitanju obelodanjen je još 2002. godine, kada je vladika timočki Justin upozorio da neke organizacije i pojedinci vrše pritisak na vlaško stanovništvo u Timočkoj krajini da se na popisu stanovništva izjasne kao Vlasi-Rumuni.
On je rekao da Vlasi u Timočkoj krajini nisu ugroženi, već da te ocene "potiču iz inostrane kuhinje, da su akcije potpomognute finansijski sa tendencijom destabilizacije ovog regiona i da je to samo usputna faza čiji je krajnji cilj rumunizacija vlaškog stanovništva".
Svoje tvrdnje ovaj visoki sveštenik potkrepio je dokazima u vidu letka sa natpisima "U demokratskoj Srbiji osećajte se slobodno kao Vlaho-Rumun" i "Ne stidite se da budete Vlaho-Rumun".
Vladika Justin je osudio tadašnji nenajavljeni dolazak episkopa RPC Danila i rumunskog ambasadora u Srbiji u selo Slatina kod Bora, na proslavu desetogodišnjice osnivanja Demokratskog pokreta Rumuna Srbije.
Situacija se zaoštrila do usijanja kada je Aleksandroviću zaprećeno rušenjem crkve na njegovom imanju po nalogu gradjevinske inspekcije opštine Negotin, zašta je on optužio vladiku Justina.
"Opštinski inspektori bili su na licu mesta i bez mog znanja su merili objekte, čime je povredjena Univerzalna deklaracija o ljudskim pravima", naveo je Aleksandrović.
On je taj čin ocenio kao "dokaz da u Timočkoj krajini vlada teokratija i da su Rumunima - Vlasima ugrožena osnovna prava, uključujući i pravo da se mole na maternjem jeziku".
Meštani Malajnice su se složili da pripadaju pravoslavnoj veroispovesti, s tim što su se mnoga domaćinstva protivila izgradnji hrama jer smatraju da RPC unosi razdor medju vlaško stanovništvo.
Vojislav Aleksandrović, 73-godišnji Malajničanin, kaže:
"Mi nismo Rumuni već srpski Vlasi i ne vidim zašto bi nam sveštenik propovedao na vlaškom".
Saša Trifunović je dopisnik novinske agencije BETA iz Bora. Balkan insajt je BIRN-ovo internet izdanje.
Članak je objavljen uz pomoc Ambasade Velike Britanije u Beogradu, kao deo BIRN-ovog projekta za obuku i izvestavanje medija o manjinama.
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Churches Divide Vlachs in Eastern Serbia
Attempts by the Romanian Orthodox Church to expand into Eastern Serbia are causing an unholy row in the region.
By Sasa Trifunovic in Bor
The rolling hills of the Timok region of eastern Serbia are home to a large portion of Serbia’s Vlach minority community.
One of the few regions of Serbia devoid of ethnic divisions, its harmony is now in jeopardy as a result of divisions within the Vlach community itself.
The cause of the discord is the Romanian Orthodox Church, which to the dismay of its Serbian counterpart has begun setting up parishes in eastern Serbia and splitting the Vlach community.
One group pledges allegiance to the Romanian Church, based is Bucharest, and which uses Romanian-language services, while the other remains loyal to the Serbian Patriarch in Belgrade.
Police have had to intervene twice to stop the two sides from coming to blows in recent years.
Serbia’s 40,000 Vlachs live in about 50 villages in eastern Serbia, in the district of Bor and the towns of Pozarevac, Jagodina and Paracin.
Previously claimed by both Serbs and Romanians, Vlachs gained the status in Serbia of a national minority in 2007.
The confusion has arisen over some Vlachs who have decided to declare themselves ethnic Romanians.
The Romanian Orthodox Church, meanwhile, has become increasingly active in the area since 2003, drawing about 10 per cent of the Vlachs into Romanian congregations.
Two Romanian priests now work in the area, joining the 26 Romanian priests serving the long-established Romanian community concentrated in Vrsac, in the northern province of Vojvodina.
The latest squabble between the two sides occurred in the village of Malajnica.
Bojan Aleksandrovic, a Romanian Orthodox priest ordained by the Romanian bishop from Vrsac, said police had “questioned” a family simply for holding a funeral service in the Romanian language in January.
Aleksandrovic said he complained to the police in nearby Bor about the grilling but the police insisted they acted within their rights.
“The police needed to gather information because of reports that an incident was about to happen,” Slavisa Barac, head of Bor police station, told Balkan Insight. “They had no intention of intimidating anyone.”
But Fr Aleksandrovic said that the move was not protective but intimidating and added up to “a blatant violation of the constitution which guarantees religious rights to all its ethnic groups”.
He added: “We have no problems with Serbs but we do have one with priests who are full of prejudices,” he said, referring to rivals from the Serbian Orthodox Church.
“Whenever I perform a mass, Serbian Church priests harass the people who attend,” he added.
The Vlach National Council, based in Bor, condemned the police for getting involved in the funeral service in Malajnica.
It has sent a letter of protest to the Ministry of Religion, the Interior Ministry and the Human and Minority Rights Department as well as to the Serbian Orthodox Church.
“We want a dialogue with all relevant state institutions and the Serbian Church so we can avoid similar problems in the future,” Zoran Jankovic, a member of the council, told Balkan Insight.
Some years ago, in May 2005, a more serious incident occurred. This took place after the Vlach Association of Serbia, a separate community organization, announced plans to mark the 610th anniversary of a battle against the Ottomans in the village of Rovine, near Negotin.
Fr Aleksandrovic of the Romanian Church was to have held the mass for the Vlach duke and his troops in the local Koroglas monastery.
But the religious service was called off after locals confronted the Romanian Vlach activists, telling them to “go to Romania”. Police had to intervene and separate the two camps.
The association’s secretary, Dusan Prvulovic, said their organisation had later demanded whether the Serbian Orthodox Church backed the people who stopped them from going into the monastery.
The hostility shown on that occasion reflects concern in the Serbian Orthodox Church about Romanian priests poaching their congregations.
This feeling has been growing in strength since 2002, when a Serbian monk named Justin issued a public complaint about the Romanian Church’s actions in eastern Serbia.
He complained that Vlachs in eastern Serbia were facing pressure to declare themselves as ethnic Romanians in the upcoming census.
The monks said the affair had been “cooked up by international factors with the aim of destabilising the region in order to forcefully turn Vlachs into Romanians”.
The monk supported his theory by showing anonymous pamphlets in which people were urged to “proudly declare yourself a Romanian Vlach in a democratic Serbia”.
He also condemned the visit to the village of Slatina by a Romanian archbishop and the Romanian ambassador to Serbia.
The visit was held to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding the Democratic Movement of Romanians in Serbia.
Fr Aleksandrovic responded by accusing the monk of orchestrating threats from the local authorities to demolish a Romanian Orthodox church, standing on his own land.
“Inspectors came to my property illegally, without my knowledge or consent,” Aleksandrovic claimed.
In the event, the controversial church building has remained where it was. But the priest continues to complain that Vlachs who identify with the Romanian Church suffer harassment.
In an interview earlier this year he said Romanian Vlachs in the area were being “deprived of their rights,” including the right to “pray in their native language”.
Locals in Malajnica, on the other hand, mainly take the side of the Serbian Orthodox Church and accuse the Romanian Orthodox Church of creating a rift in the Vlach community.
“We are Serbian and not Romanian Vlachs, so I see no reason why we shouldn’t have mass in Serbian,” Vojislav Aleksandrovic, 73, said.
Sasa Trifunovic is the Bor-based correspondent of Beta news agency. Balkan Insight is BIRN`s online publication.
This article was published with the support of the British embassy in Belgrade as part of BIRN's Minority Media Training and Reporting Project.
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