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
On 28 July at the square in front of the Ministry of National Defence the solemn initiation ceremony of the assigning of the Chief of Defence of the Republic of Lithuania was held.
more »
On 28 July, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sven Alkalaj, who was paying an official visit to Lithuania.
more »
Lithuanian Minister of National Defence and Estonian Defence Minister by phone discussed readiness of Baltic Battalion to be on duty in NATO Response Force after the information that due to extremely difficult economic situation Latvia will decrease its input into the battalion.
more »
In the evening of 27 July in Brussels at the end of the EU foreign ministers’ meeting and before the EU-Belarus consultations, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs V. Ušackas met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus S. Martynov.
more »
On 27 July in Brussels, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas and EU Foreign Ministers discussed the situation in Georgia and its neighbourhood.
more »
Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphedinsson, Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security Árni Páll Árnason and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs Árni Thór Sigurdsson.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė received the Apostolic Nuncio to Lithuania, Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi.
more »
On 23 July in Stockholm, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė and Swedish Minister for European Affairs Cecilia Malmström discussed priorities of Sweden’s EU Presidency.
more »
Lithuania’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs V. Ušackas had a telephone conversation with Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Össur Skarphedinsson, during which the Ministers discussed Iceland’s decision to apply for the European Union membership.
more »
Acting in conformity the Constitution of Lithuania and based on the proposal submitted by Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, President D. Grybauskaitė has approved the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.
more »