The president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, arrived on the semi-autonomous monastic community of Mount Athos on Wednesday, Christmas Eve — based on the Julian calendar that the Serbian Patriarchate follows.
The Serbian president was hosted at the Hilandar monastery, which he called magnificent, and from where he conveyed Christmas wishes to Orthodox believers around the world.
Among others, Vucic noted that “…I have just finished dinner on Christmas Eve with Abbot Methodius and I am preparing for the morning service with the brothers of the Hilandar Monastery.”
According to Serbian mass media, the stay marks the first official visit by a Serbian president to the Hilandar monastery in two decades.
