“Serbs should live freely in Kosovo and Metohija. No one should threaten Serbs, no one has the right to destroy their monuments, their churches and monasteries. No one can create problems with their travels or prevent them from maintaining constant contact with their relatives,” the patriarch told reporters after meeting with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in Belgrade.
Kosovo and Metohija are the spiritual center of the people of Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church, and “that says a lot,” Patriarch Kirill said.
“We insist on what we have always insisted: we support the people of Serbia in their understanding of the problem of Kosovo and its historical significance and the way such issues should be resolved politically. They should be resolved in such a way that fundamental human rights and freedoms should not be violated. We are primarily concerned about the rights and freedoms of the Serbian population of Kosovo,” Patriarch Kirill said.
The patriarch said the Russian Church is trying to help the Serbian population in Kosovo and Metohija and is raising money to support them.
In May-June 2014, the Russian Church provided assistance to Serbia, which had been hit by heavy rainfall, by transferring 27 million rubles raised in the dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate to the account of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
In 2012, Patriarch Kirill blessed fundraiser for monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija. The Sretensky Monastery choir gave two charity concerts and transferred 200,000 euro to Bishop of Prizren Feodosy.
In July 2013, an extra 50,000 euro was transferred to the account of the Prizren Spiritual Seminary. The 145,000 euro raised by the Russian Church monasteries were sent to Serbia in a separate tranche.
