Nikolic to pay official visit to Vatican on April 17

BELGRADE - Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic will pay an official one-day visit to Vatican on April 17, where he will confer with supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis.

President Nikolic and Pope Francis will discuss the topics of mutual importance to the two countries, including the situation in Kosovo-Metohija and current international issues.

Nikolic will also confer with State Secretary of the Holy See Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Peter Gallagher, and he should also visit the Vatican Apostolic Library, Tanjug learnt in the Serbian president's cabinet.

In March 2013, Nikolic attended the inauguration of Pope Francis. According to diplomatic assessments, the relations between Serbia and the Holy See are good and free of open issues.

Vatican does not recognise the independence of the southern Serbian province of Kosovo-Metohija unilaterally declared by ethnic Albanians in February 2008 and it supports the search for a compromise solution based exclusively on dialogue.

Photo Tanjug/S. Radovanovic (archive)