On 20 February 2026, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije received at the Patriarchal Palace in Belgrade, with expressions of brotherly welcome, His Grace Bishop of Mesaoria kyr Grigorios – President of the Office of Pilgrimages of the Church of Cyprus, and Mr. Kostas Koumis – Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Cyprus, who are visiting the Serbian capital on the occasion of the International Tourism Fair, at which Cyprus is the guest of honor.
 
His Holiness kyr Porfirije expressed his personal love for the Church and people of Cyprus, born of numerous visits and friendships, and showed great interest in the current situation in Cyprus, especially in how the regional political circumstances there affect the development of tourism.
 
The esteemed guests from Cyprus conveyed the greetings of His Beatitude Archbishop kyr Georgios and emphasized that today’s meeting and conversation with the Head of the Church of the brotherly Serbian people is an honor for them. They presented the complexity of the situation in their country, particularly in light of the inability to use churches in the part not administered by the Government in Nicosia for the religious needs of the faithful. They also noted that the general situation in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean is not conducive to the advancement of tourism, including its pilgrimage form.
 
The Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church emphasized the need, for the purpose of strengthening further ties between the two Churches and peoples, through the beneficial mission of pilgrimage travel, to establish close cooperation between the Pilgrimage Agency “Dobročinstvo” and the Office led by His Grace Bishop Grigorios, which proposal was wholeheartedly accepted.
 
His Holiness recalled similar circumstances in which the Serbian Church finds herself in Kosovo and Metohija, expressing gratitude for the position of Cyprus regarding the preservation of the territorial integrity of our Homeland, which Minister Koumis once again confirmed.
 
The meeting was attended by Mr. Andreas Photiou – Ambassador of Cyprus; Thalia Christodoulidou; Pantelis Ioannidis; Giulia Sikopetridi; Protopresbyter Đorđe Stojisavljević – Head of the Cabinet of the Serbian Patriarch; and Mr. Mladen Andrejić, official of the Cabinet of the Serbian Patriarch.