Washington, D.C., July 21, 2026
Pat. Porfirije with Pastor Mark Burns during a visit to Visoki Dečani Monastery in Kosovo. Photo: slobodnaevropa.org
The US State Department has opened diplomatic talks with Serbia on holding Kosovo accountable for the mistreatment of Christians, including Serbian Orthodox Christians, according to Pastor Mark Burns, spiritual advisor to President Donald J. Trump.
Burns made the announcement following a visit to Serbia, Kosovo and the Republic of Srpska alongside His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije earlier this month.
Burns expresses his gratitude to President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their attention to Christians, religious liberty and persecuted faith communities, and specifically for the attention given to the Serbian Christian community, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the protection of its sacred heritage.
During the visit, Burns accompanied Pat. Porfirije to the Patriarchate of Peć and Visoki Dečani Monastery. He says the Patriarch should be permitted to enter Kosovo freely to carry out his pastoral responsibilities, visit the faithful and pray at the historic monasteries of his Church, and shouldn’t be treated as a political threat or forced to navigate political obstacles to visit the sacred spiritual home of the Serbian Orthodox faithful.
Past restrictions have raised serious international religious-freedom concerns, Burns notes. He says his statement isn’t directed against the Albanian people or the Muslim community, but is a call for fairness and religious freedom for everyone.
Burns’ statement came shortly after the Diocese of Raško and Prizren published one of its most extensive statements in recent years, warning that the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian people in Kosovo has dramatically worsened and calling on the international community to react, saying that without a response there could be a complete disappearance of the Serbian people from the area. The diocese specifically criticized the Kosovo Police, which it said is increasingly seen as an instrument of pressure among Serbs.
The Kosovo Police responded the same day, rejecting the accusations as unfounded and claiming it doesn’t implement an institutional policy of pressure, discrimination or intimidation against Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church, but acts exclusively in accordance with the law.
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