Vatican Secretary discusses Kosovo with Vucinqi

Vatican State Secretary Cardinal Pietro Parolin has met in Belgrade with Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, with whom he has discussed, among other things, Kosovo.

Vuciq, through a post in his account on the Social Instagram network, has said that during the conversation he has underlined that “defence issue, respect and improvement of the rights of Serbs and the other non-Albanian population” in Kosovo is of key importance for Serbia.

Another important issue, according to Serbian leaders, is the “preservation and restoration of Serbian religious and cultural heritage, Orthodox cemetery, as well as endangered cultural monuments, especially of Orthodox churches and monasteries under U's protection NESTO's”

Vucinac He said that Serbia “highly praises” the position of the Holy See is compared to Kosovo's independence.

The Vatican is one of the European countries that does not recognise Kosovo's citizenship. The Vatican's position is that the solution to relations between Belgrade and Pristina should be reached in dialogue that the parties hold with the European Union's mediation.

The topic of discussion, according to Vuciqi, has been “the continuation of regular political dialogue on all levels, as well as co-operation between Serbia and the Catholic Church”.

“I stressed that the Republic of Serbia is determined to continue cultivating and improving constructive relations with the Holy See, since we share views on many international issues, especially the protection of Christians and Christian heritage, as well as the improvement of the human rights of Christians”, Vuciq has written.

Vatican Secretary Palolin arrived in Serbia on Tuesday 17 September for a visit on the occasion of marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Belgrade Archbishop.

The meeting with Serbia's prime minister, Milos Vuchev, is also on the agenda of Parolini's visit.

Several meetings have been held between Serbian and Vatican officials in recent years.

The previous visit of a Vatican official to Serbia was made in 2021 by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary of the Holy See for Relations with States.

A communique published by Serbia's presidency said the Vatican official had declared that the Western Balkans remain among the Holy See's priorities.

According to the general census in Serbia, conducted in 2022, 86.6 percent of citizens have claimed to belong to the Christian faith, of which 3.9 percent are registered as Catholics. /Radio Free Europe/