On April 4, 2012, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Ivica Dacic, at the patriarchal residence in St. Daniel’s Monastery.
In the course of their talk, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed, in particular, his concern for the situation of Serbs in Kosovo. ‘This theme is constantly present in our thoughts and in our prayers’, he said.
His Holiness reminded the Minister that the Moscow Patriarchate is carrying out a fund-raising program for aid to Prizren Theological Academy and in support of people’s soup kitchens in Kosovo. He also mentioned letters received from Serbian brothers with requests and stories about their troubles. ‘These all are alarms taken so close to the heart of every Orthodox believer because of our historical community and because we are Orthodox, we are Slavs. We have many things in common in the present as well, and we feel the pain of the Serbian people as our own’, the Patriarch stressed.
On his part, Mr Dacic, who is also co-chairman of the Joint Russian-Serbian Intergovernmental Commission, said that for him it was a great honour to be received in audience by His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. He conveyed to Patriarch Kirill a message of greetings from His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia.
‘For every Serb, Russian people are brothers. Our spiritual and friendly relations are so strong that they cannot be broken. For this reason, on behalf of the Serbian people, state and on my own behalf I would like to thank you for the support of the Serbian people. In a world of reigning injustice and prevalent power of not arguments but force, Russia’s support is for us the only voice of hope’, he said.