Kurti grants permission to Patriarch Porfirije to visit Kosovo

(Patria) - Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has granted permission to Patriarch Porfirije to visit Kosovo, the Government of Kosovo announced.

The statement from Kurti's cabinet says that the permit for the visit of the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije was requested by the Minister for Return and Communities Nenad Rašić, which Kurti accepted, Nova.rs reports.

Porfirije will come to Kosovo as part of preparations for the celebration of Orthodox Christmas.

The Serbian Patriarch, as stated, said he wants to enter Kosovo without bodyguards and that he did not request the visit according to the provisions of existing agreements between Kosovo and Serbia.

- The announcement by Patriarch Porfirije that he plans to enter Kosovo without bodyguards is further proof that Kosovo is a safer country than Serbia - the Kosovo Government statement said.

Patriarch Porfirije was denied entry to Kosovo on December 26.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo set a condition for the Patriarch to condemn or distance himself from, as it stated, "the actions of Church members who provide support to criminal groups in the north of Kosovo," who are "responsible for erecting barricades."