Serbian President Boris Tadic cautioned in Istanbul on Wednesday that the Serbian holy sites in Kosovo are at risk, and pointed to the attempts of the (interim) authority in Pristina to artificially separate a foundational part of Serbian patrimony and politicize it.

"All four of our World Heritage-designated sites that are located in our province of Kosovo have been placed on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger, where they must unfortunately remain," Tadic said while addressing the participants of the Forum of the Heads of Southeast European Countries on Cultural Corridors.

The Forum is held under the auspices of UNESCO in scope of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP).

Tadic also pointed out that Serbia greatly appreciates UNESCO's strict status-neutrality, and the Organization's sensitivity in this fundamental area of our cooperation.

He underlined that UNESCO-and Council of Europe-sponsored programs such as this one have stood fast throughout this decade of accomplishment and through setbacks, such as the unilateral declaration of independence by the ethnic-Albanian authorities of Serbia's southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, and their attempt to artificially separate a foundational part of Serbian patrimony, by politicizing cultural heritage or destroying it whole-scale.

"These bridges have held even though some in Pristina have tried to use Serbian patrimony in Kosovo as pawns in a dangerous game of identity creation," Tadic said.

Commenting on the Istanbul Forum, which is dedicated to music as a metaphor for cultural dialogue, Tadic said that it is no secret that for centuries, the people of South-East Europe have been borrowing freely and openly from each other, adding something of their own.

"Music, for all of us, is thus at once an element of mutual recognition as well as understanding, a way to unify while preserving something distinct," he underlined, giving the example of Serbia's most renowned composer Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac and one of his most eclectic musical inheritors Goran Bregovic, a composer who was born in Sarajevo and lives in Belgrade.

By promoting heritage through music, each and everyone of us can help bring to life the provisions of the Istanbul Declaration, which the Republic of Serbia fully endorses, Tadic said.

President Tadic proposed that Serbia hosts this important regional event in 2011.

The theme for next year's summit would be 'From Roman Tolerance to European Understanding,' and it would be intended to draw attention to this region's under-emphasized tradition of reconciliation and inter-cultural bridge-building, he explained.

Elaborating on the issue, Tadic pointed to three important historical episodes that contributed to the building of bridges between people.

First, the Edict of the Emperor Constantine, who was born in the Serbian city of Nis. It established religious tolerance throughout the Roman Empire, and set a precedent for the entire world to emulate.

Second, the Code of Dusan, the most progressive constitutional document of the Middle Ages. The brainchild of this great Serbian ruler reaffirmed the supremacy of the rule of law throughout much of the region, while establishing the principle of equal rights for all-irrespective of ethnicity and geography.

And third, according to Tadic, is the many achievements of the sixteenth century's Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic, proud son of Serbia's lands and one of the most distinguished of all Ottoman statesmen, who restored the Serbian Patriarchate in Pec into a religious and educational center.

"Next year in Serbia, we propose the building of many more such bridges across time, enhancing our European understanding of diversity, for the sake of the generations to come," President Tadic said.