Pope Francis arrived on Tuesday morning at the airport in Skopje, where he was traditionally greeted with bread and salt. The head of the Roman Catholic Church was greeted by the president and prime minister of North Macedonia, Djordje Ivanov and Zoran Zaev, and other representatives of the government and the city of Skopje.

Pope Francis will first go to the Presidential Palace where a reception is organized, and later on during his first visit to North Macedonia serve a mass at the central square in Skopje, an event that is expected to be attended by more than 15,000 people.

Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ivica Dacic said he thinks the Pope Francis visit to Serbia, would be useful, Tanjug news agency reported.

“You know my stance. I made it public several times. I think it would be useful for Serbia and Serbian people in general,” Dacic said, after ceremonial liturgy at the Church of  Holly Virgin Maria, held to commemorate Armistice Day and the end of the WWI.

Dacic also noted, that relations with the Vatican are often viewed through the problems that existed in relation with the Church in Croatia and Second World War.

Pope Francis' visit would be of state and national interest to Serbia, which is why it is important to achieve consensus in our country, says Ivica Dacic.

The foreign minister and first deputy PM also said that the role of the Vatican is invaluable as Serbia fights for Kosovo and Metohija. Dacic added that he understands the opposiiton of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the visit, but that the pope is not only a religious leader, but also a statesman.

Only a day after the Serb Orthodox Church (SPC) Patriarch said it was still not time for the head of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Serbia, the country Foreign Minister said Pope Francis should come.

Ivica Dacic told the Belgrade daily Politika on Wednesday that there would be no better Pope for Serbia and that he believed that the current head of the Roman Catholic Church should visit the country.

Pope Francis, hosted today at the Holy See in Vatican, a private audience with the President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci.

“Thaci stressed that Kosovo has continued to preserve patience, faith and values that we have as society – love and solidarity in family and society, respect for everyone’s dignity, tolerance and cooperation,” informs a press release issued by the Office of the President of Kosovo.

Serbian Ambassador to UNESCO and the country's former ambassador to the Vatican Darko Tanaskovic say he does not believe Pope Francis will visit Kosovo.

Tanaskovic also noted that even if that were to happen, "it would not have to mean that the Vatican had recognized, or was going to recognize, Kosovo."

Pope Francis "should visit Belgrade and Pristina within the next year," the Belgrade-based Danas daily reported on Wednesday.

The paper was quoting "unofficial Western diplomatic sources" when reporting this, Tanjug said.

According to the report, the sources said Pope Francis had been invited by Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic to pay a first official visit to Belgrade and was willing to do so, and the Serbian Orthodox Church is not against the invitation either.

The President of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi, met on Sunday during the ceremony of Mother Teresa’s being declared a saint, Pope Francis.