Serbia will request from the international community to reassess its decision that the protection of the Gracanica Monastery and other Serbian religious and cultural facilities in Kosovo be put into the hands of Kosovo police, Minister of Culture Nebojsa Bradic has stated.

"We have great reason for concern, because similar decisions KFOR made in the past proved detrimental to the Serbian community and put our cultural heritage in jeopardy. We fear that this will revive the bad spirit of March 17," Bradic said for daily Novosti, reminding of the pogrom of Serbs in 2003, when ethnic Albanians torched Serb Orthodox monasteries and churches.

He said that the Serbian officials expect from international institutions superior to KFOR, EULEX and Kosovo police to seriously take into consideration Serbia's protest and warnings.

"Through a series of diplomatic actions we will continue to insist that the transfer of protection onto Kosovo interim institutions was a bad decision. We have to make the world powers and whole international community realize that what is at stake in Kosovo is not only the Serbian heritage but also the heritage of the world. Our monuments will be truly endangered if in hands of those who once desecrated them," the minister stressed.

Bradic said that Pristina's decision to prohibit Serbian officials from entering Kosovo is yet another form of pressure exerted on Belgrade and an additional obstacle in the diplomatic fight for the province, which, as he put it, will "certainly aggravate both the work and security of the ones engaged in the protection of cultural heritage."

He said that a protest note was sent to EULEX, but added "it is clear that the note has lost much of its significance after the advisory opinion of the ICJ."