Russian Patriarch Alexy II Visits Estonia
Published:
26 September 2003 y., Friday
Russian Patriarch Alexy II arrived Thursday for a five-day visit, his first since a bitter dispute over the status of the faithful in the republic threatened to split Orthodox Christians worldwide.
Estonians also see Alexy's visit as a signal from the Kremlin that it wants to improve relations. The nation of 1.4 million people has sparred with Moscow over several issues since it regained independence amid the 1991 Soviet collapse.
"It's not just any old trip. It is, I would say, a kind of step toward the normalization of Estonian-Russian relations," said Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the Estonian parliament's foreign relations committee.
Alexy is uniquely positioned to carry a goodwill message, and not only because he's viewed as an emissary of the Russian government. He was born in Estonia in 1929, went to school here and reportedly speaks fluent Estonian.
Šaltinis:
AP
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė goes for a working visit to Brussels to attend an informal meeting of the European Council.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to President Valdis Zatlers and the people of Latvia on their national holiday - Independence Day.
more »
On 16 November in Brussels, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas took part in the joint meeting of European Union’s foreign and defence ministers with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
more »
Wednesday, November 11, President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė met with President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński.
more »
On November 5-6 meeting of the Baltic Chiefs of Defence Staffs of the Baltic States will be held in Nemenčinė, Gen. Ramanauskas Warfare Training Centre (Vilnius Region).
more »
The interview of Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas to the daily Die Presse about his country’s sensitive relations with Russia, about perspectives for Kiev and bad American PR in the antiballistic missile defence debate.
more »
Professor Vytautas Landsbergis, outstanding Lithuanian politician and cultural figure, is invited as a keynote speaker and will deliver a report on the Lithuanian contribution to European freedom and unification in 1988-1989.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania participating in her first session of the European Council strongly defends interests of the Baltic countries and other new Member States of the EU at the commencing discussion among the European leaders concerning the common position to be upheld in the upcoming world-wide meeting in Copenhagen on the issue of mitigation of consequences of climate change.
more »
Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas offers his most sincere condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones during the terrorist act in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on 28 October.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to President Abdullah Gül on the 86th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.
more »