DODIK: METROPOLITAN LUKIJAN IS MAKING GREAT EFFORTS FOR SERB PEOPLE'S SURVIVAL

BUDAPEST, JUNE 4 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik has stated today in Budapest that His Eminence Metropolitan Lukijan of Buda is making great efforts to ensure the survival of the Serb people in Hungary.

"It is a great honour and I am grateful to be here and to meet with our people. I am thankful for the charter I received, and I will continue to work devotedly for the well-being of the Serb people, as well as to further strengthen cooperation with Hungary," Dodik said in the courtyard of the Church of Saint George the Great Martyr, after a welcoming ceremony was held in his honour.

He added that the Serb people are authentic and that by preserving their faith, they have also managed to preserve their alphabet and language.

"I have never seen greater integration between church and state than in Hungary," noted Dodik.

After the reception in the church courtyard, Dodik and Metropolitan Lukijan held talks at Tekelijanum, an endowment founded by Sava Tekelija in 1838 in Pest.