11. September 2015 - President of the Republic of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic had a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Topics that featured in the talks included, inter alia, the migrant crisis, Serbia’s objection to the admission of the so-called “Republic of Kosovo” to UNESCO and the establishment of a Joint Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church tasked with examining the historical facts dating from WWII, and the role played by Aloysius Stepinac in the Independent State of Croatia.
President Nikolic presented Pope Francis with a phototypic edition of Dusan's Code and a monograph entitled “Christian Heritage of Kosovo and Metohija”.
Pope Francis presented President Nikolic with a gold medal produced on the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of his election as Pontiff, and a book entitled “A history of the pontificate told through the history of medals”.
After the audience with the Pope, President Nikolic had a meeting with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin. The Vatican delegation included Msgr. Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.
President Nikolic presented Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, with the Order of the Republic of Serbia on a Sash, for exceptional merits in the development and strengthening the friendly relations and cooperation between the Republic of Serbia and the Holy See. Furthermore, the Serbian President presented the Secretary of State of the Holy See with the monograph “Christian Heritage of Kosovo and Metohija”.
A mutual interest in further development and promotion of cooperation, both bilateral and multilateral, was expressed during the visit.
President Nikolic also toured the Vatican Library, where he talked to the Chief Librarian and Archivist of the Holy See, Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès.