Belgrade, 28 October 2017 - The President of the Republic of Serbia Mr. Aleksandar Vucic met with His Holiness Irinej with whom he talked about accelerating the completion of works on the construction of the Saint Sava Cathedral in Belgrade.
Serbia Patriarchate
President
Vucic and Patriarch Irinej agreed that the works on the construction
should be completed until 2019, so that the marking of the 800th anniversary of the establishment of the first Serbian Archbishopric would be held in the new Cathedral.
Two
interlocutors also discussed the state of the Serbian Orthodox Church
in Kosovo and Metohija and expressed a need for further investments in
order that our most important cultural and historical monuments might be
better preserved.
President Vucic informed His Holiness Irinej
about great pressures that Serbia had been facing in its efforts to
preserve peace, stability and to guarantee a safer future for our
descendants. They agreed that a vital goal of the Serbian state was
preservation of its independence and freedom, as well as its right to
make decisions about itself and its future without interference of other
countries.
The two interlocutors expressed their concern about
the extremely low birth rate in Serbia, and President Vucic informed the
Patriarch about various incentive measures that the state would launch
in order to correct such a difficult situation.