Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos began an official visit to Serbia on Friday afternoon for talks with clerics and political officials.

Patriarch Pavlos of Serbia welcomed the Archbishop at the airport and told him that in Serbia the Greek clerics can feel at home.

Archbishop Christodoulos thanked the Patriarch and conveyed the greetings of the Orthodox Greek people. The Archbishop also referred to "the heroic Serbian people", stressing that they had overcome the tragedy "of the unjust war."

Christodoulos, who was accompanied by metropolitans, said that he hoped the country would find the place it deserves among the free and democratic states.

Christodoulos later held a service at the Church of Archangel Michail in Belgrade where he referred to the bitterness of the Serbian people and the stance taken by "the so-called Christian west" during their suffering.