President to visit Vatican on April 17

President to visit Vatican on April 17

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

They will "discuss the topics of mutual importance to the two countries, including the situation in Kosovo and Metohija and current international issues," Tanjug is reporting.

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, the agency said it learned from Serbian president's cabinet on Wednesday.

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 recognize Kosovo and "supports the search for a compromise solution based exclusively on dialogue," Tanjug said.