Religious persecution

"Russian Church wants to mediate in SPC-MPC dispute"

BELGRADE -- Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev has said that Moscow wants to mediate in the church dispute between Belgrade and Skopje.

This is according to the Religious Information Agency (VIA), which referred to him as "the second most senior official" of the Russian Orthodox Church.

BELGRADE - Metropolitan Ilarion Alfeyev, the second most senior official of the Russian Orthodox Church, has said that Moscow wants to mediate in the church dispute between Belgrade and Skopje, the Religious Information Agency (VIA) reported on Monday.

BELGRADE - The Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) on Wednesday expressed deep gratitude to the sisterly Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for its great efforts to secure the release of Archbishop Jovan Vraniskovski of Ohrid.

Serbia told to free detained Falun Gong members

BRUSSELS -- European parliament member Eduard Kukan has asked in a statement issued late on Wednesday that Serbia releases all activist detained in Belgrade.

The bunker, which is located on the outskirts of Tirana, was opened for the first time to the public on Saturday, complete with memorabilia from Albania's former Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha.   

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The massive, top secret Cold War nuclear bunker of former Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha was opened to the public on Saturday, decades after it was built by the paranoid communist regime fearing an attack by the West that never came.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry underscores the significant efforts Romania has made over the recent years to assume its past and condemn the denial of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, the ministry said in a release to AGERPRES on Thursday, on the occasion of the National Holocaust Remembrance Day in Romania.

BERLIN - Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that he expects the meeting with Albania's Prime Minsiter Edi Rama in Belgrade on October 22 to be a discussion on serious topics between responsible people.

This is the first meeting of the two countries' leaders in 68 years, since the meeting between Josip Broz Tito and Enver Hoxha in 1946, he told reporters in Berlin.

Albania’s Minister of Culture, Mirela Kumbaro, on August 16 said the Pope's forthcoming visit to Albania will generate enormous interest in the country.

“This is a big event that will bring Albania to the centre of attention of the international media,” Kumbaro told reporters.

“About 1,000 journalists are expected to cover the visit,” she added.

SPC in "ecclesiastical charges" against Macedonia archbishop

BELGRADE -- The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) announced Tuesday its decision to bring ecclesiastical charges against Archbishop Stefan.

He is the head of the canonically unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church (MPC).