The propaganda website "Kosovo i Metohija", known for its tendentious content, has published a post with a group of Russian and Serbian volunteers who have organized three charity sports tournaments in Belgrade, Visegrad and Raška, with the aim of raising funds for the Monastery of Saint Petka in northern Kosovo.

According to the content published by this site, the activities were held at the end of October.

A tournament in Raška was dedicated to the Slava of Saint Petka, while residents contributed by organizing a tournament in their local field and providing all the necessary infrastructure.

According to the article, the collected amounts of money were transferred to the monastery's account. "For three days, they organized three fraternal tours and also visited historical sites in Višegrad and Raška," the post states.

The organizers say that their activities were not followed by the media, while videos and photos of the tours were published on their Instagram profile. The article published by "Kosovo Metohija" is consistent with the usual narratives of the site, which often reports on Kosovo topics with a clear tendency to promote propaganda.

The notion of "Metohija", despite dating back to the Middle Ages or the 11th century and being a church term, continues to be used today in public discourse, both formal and informal, by the Serbian population living in Kosovo, but also by senior leaders of Kosovo institutions representing the Serbian community.

They always use the term "Metohija" as a suffix when mentioning Kosovo, addressing it as "Kosovo and Metohija".

However, experts in the field of history and representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo agree regarding the origin of the term "Metohija" and say that this term refers to the area that today is the Dukagjini region in Kosovo.

Ismajl Hasani, professor of sociology of religion and expert on political developments and phenomena in Kosovo, speaking to Radio Free Europe, assesses that the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo is, in some cases, more cautious in using this term than what he calls ultra-nationalist circles.

The use even today of a church term, "Metohija" as a suffix for Kosovo, according to him, is not accidental.

"Now, this term is used for certain purposes, to strengthen the part of the Dukagjini region, which is not done by chance. That is, it is intentional, to interrupt the so-called "continuous belt" of ethnic Albanians, which includes part of Kosovo, Dukagjini, northern Albania and up to the south of Albania, the shores of the Ionian Sea," said Professor Hasani.

Professor Drançolli has a similar opinion. According to him, "Metohija", as a suffix to the name of Kosovo, is a political invention and not a scientific one.

"It is clearly known that the ethnic aspect in Kosovo is in favor of Albanians, 90 percent. Now, in this context, these notions, which appear as recurrences of past centuries, have this goal, the division of Kosovo into two parts," emphasized Professor Drançolli.

But Minister Jablanovic expresses the opinion that no one should feel offended because Serbs, including him, refer to Kosovo with the suffix "Metohija".

"If someone who hears the expression "Metohija" finds themselves offended, then they should influence some wider circles, so that in central Serbia, in schools, it is not taught that this is called Kosovo and Metohija."

On the other hand, Professor Hasani assesses that the use of the term "Metohija" by certain circles in Serbia and Kosovo, including Serbian politicians in Kosovo institutions, does not belong to the background of pejorative terms, which are not uncommon in the use of Balkan peoples for each other.

"The use of the term "Metohi" implies an attempt to relativize Kosovo as a state, political and administrative entity, with which to replace what has been lost, because, once, the phrase 'Kosovo, the cradle of Serbism' circulated. It was lost and now it is insisted that the term "Kosovo and Metohija" be used as much as possible instead."

Otherwise, legal and constitutional expert Riza Smaka says that according to the Constitution of Kosovo, the name of the country is Kosovo and not "Kosovo and Metohija", as used in formal and public discourse by Serbian politicians who are part of Kosovo's institutions.

"The basic legal order of a sovereign state, which is in fact internationally recognized by a significant number of countries, is ignored. These are citizens of our country and do not take reality into account, but arbitrarily consider our country as 'Kosovo and Metohija'."

However, Professor Hasani assessed that Serbia insists and will continue to insist on using the term "Metohija", intentionally, to mark its presence, at least verbally, in Kosovo.TheGeopost.

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