Harmful and concerning initiatives in the Council of Europe and the United Nations

On 20 April 2024, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije received Mr. James O'Brian, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Department of State, and Mr. Christopher Hill, Ambassador of the United States to the Republic of Serbia, in the Patriarchal Residence in Belgrade.

Emphasizing the importance of advancing Serbia's relations with the United States in the spirit of friendship that has characterized the relationship between the Serbian and American peoples over a long historical period, the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church acquainted the guests with the unchanging stance of the Serbian Orthodox Church that Kosovo and Metohija are part of the Republic of Serbia. Considering this fact, the Patriarch deemed the inclusion of Kosovo and Metohija in the Council of Europe as harmful.

Discussing interethnic and interstate relations in the region, His Holiness expressed utter concern and deemed as entirely harmful the initiative to adopt a resolution on Srebrenica in the General Assembly of the United Nations, without questioning the fact that all those who have committed any war crime should be brought to justice. Despite such initiatives that not only bring no good but also place peoples who have shared the same living space for centuries in front of new temptations and challenges, the Serbian Orthodox Church will continue steadfastly to call for love and understanding, to build peace both in Kosovo and Metohija and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasized the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Serbs.