Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations meets with officials of the UN Mission in Kosovo

In conclusion of his visit to Kosovo and Metochia, Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations, met on 30 October 2009 with Mr. Jolyon Negele, director of the political relations department of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and Mr. M. Krasnoschekov, a staff member of the department from the Russian Federation. Participating in the meeting, which took place at Pristina airport, was Mr. A. Shugurov, head of the office of the Russian Embassy in Serbia.

They discussed the political situation in Kosovo and Metochia, the condition of the Serbian population and the Serbian Orthodox Church and preservation of the religious and cultural heritage of the old Orthodox land in Europe.

Archbishop Hilarion pointed in particular to the importance and timeliness of the Russian Government’s decision to allocate funds for the reconstruction of major shrines in Kosovo – the monasteries of the Patriarchate of Pec, Visoki Decani, Gracanica and Bogorodica Leviska.

Mr. Krasnoschekov, in his turn, informed the DECR chairman about programs for restoring ruined churches in Kosovo and Methochia, carried out by the Council of Europe with the help of the UN Mission in Kosovo and UNESCO.

DECR Communication Service