Patriarch Irinej: Russia is Serbia's priority over the EU

His Holiness Patriarch Irinej of Serbia said that Serbia wants good relations with Europe, the US, and Russia, but if interests are opposed, Serbia has no doubts; for it, Russia comes first, reports the Patria News Agency.

Patriarch Irinej says that the Serbian and Russian peoples are of the same blood and faith, and their relations are fraternal, as they have always been throughout history, except for the time before and after the October Revolution, which, as he said, was tragic for Russians, Serbs, and all Slavic peoples.

"In the nearer and more distant past, church representatives were educated in Russia, they were helped by Russia. Not to mention what the imperial family of Nicholas Romanov did for the Serbian people in a tragic time when the issue of the Serbian army's withdrawal from Serbia arose and when the Western allies hesitated whether to accept that army or not," the patriarch emphasized in a Christmas interview for "Sputnik".

He stressed that Tsar Nicholas II then said something very important that made "the Serbs survive as an army and a people" and for which he later bore the consequences.

"This is proof of how much the Russian state thought of us," emphasized Patriarch Irinej.