Macedonian, Russian Presidents Meet in Moscow

The two heads of state discussed bilateral relations, economic cooperation, the forthcoming signing of an agreement on friendship and cooperation, as well as the further liberalisation of Macedonia's visa regime for citizens of Russia, Macedonian MIA news agency reported.

Ivanov thanked Medvedev for inviting him to attend the Economic Forum on June 16-18 in Saint Petersburg.

The Macedonian president also met with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, who expressed his readiness to contribute to settling the matter that burdens relations between the Macedonian and other Orthodox churches.

The Macedonian Orthodox Church, MPC, is involved in a longstanding dispute with the Serbian Orthodox Church, SPC. The Serbian church refuses to acknowledge the sovereign status of the MPC, arguing that the MPC should be under its patronage. Due to this row the Macedonian church has not been officially recognised by most of the Orthodox ecumenical world.

Ivanov was among dignitaries from all over the world who attended the celebration.

At the event he also briefly met with his Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin, Czech and Slovakian colleagues - Boris Tadic, Ivo Josipovic, Filip Vujanovic, Vaclav Klaus and Ivan Gasparovic, respectively. The regional leaders discussed the economic crisis.