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There is an ongoing controversy over Kosovo's bid to join the UNESCO, which would result in the sites being listed as part of Kosovo and not Serbia. [3] These monuments have come under attack, especially during the ethnic violence in 2004, during Kosovo's UNMIK rule, when the Our Lady of Ljeviš was heavily damaged.
UNESCO Executive Board members have voted in favor of the Albanian initiative to recommend Kosovo to be allowed to join UNESCO, 27 members voted in favor, 14 voted against, and 14 abstained. On 9 November 2015, UNESCO General Assembly voted on Kosovo's application. 142 members voted on the proposal: 92 in favor, 50 against, while 29 abstained.
Kosovo has an abundance of multicultural and rich heritage dating back to the Bronze Age, later followed by Illyrians, Roman, Byzantine/Serbian Orthodox and Ottoman periods. Most of the monuments in Kosovo were built by local craftsmen's with local materials under conditions that were influenced by the empires that invaded Kosovo.
Kosovo is a member of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, EBRD, Venice Commission, and the International Olympic Committee, and has applied for membership in the Council of Europe, UNESCO, and Interpol, and for observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The list includes several UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The violence quickly spread to other parts of Kosovo, with Kosovo Serb communities and religious and cultural symbols attacked by crowds of Albanians. [65] Some of these locations were ostensibly under the protection of KFOR at the time.
UNESCO, in cooperation with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo works to safeguard cultural heritage and has assisted in the reconstruction of the Dečani Monastery and Gračanica Monastery among others.
The Medieval Monuments in Kosovo site, first added to the list in 2004 and expanded two years later, has been on UNESCO's list of endangered sites since 2006 due to difficulties in its management and conservation stemming from the region's political instability.
The monastery was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and on 13 July 2006 it was placed on UNESCO's World Heritage List under the name of Medieval Monuments in Kosovo as an extension of the Visoki Dečani site which was overall placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. [1] [8]