Serbian Patriarch Irinej stated Monday in Gracanica that the Albanian people has an unquestionable right to live in Kosovo-Metohija , but that Serbs have the same right given that Kosovo is their fathers' land.

In the Vidovdan liturgy, Patriarch Irinej expressed hope that a solution for KiM will be found satisfying both Serbs and Albanians.

"A solution satisfying only one party is not a solution but rather a generator of disunity, and we and those who would like Kosovo to be their land and state do not want that to happen. This country has belonged to us throughout history but also to those who live with us here, and we hope for a solution that will be acceptable for all," Irinej said.

According to him, those who design the fate of the world should employ justice and truth when deciding on the KiM issue.

The liturgy in the Gracanica Monastery was attended by Minister for Kosovo-Metohija Goran Bogdanovic, Serbian Minister of Religion Bogoljub Sijakovic and Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Konuzin.

Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic opened this year's Vidovdan poetry reading in the monastery of Gracanica and said that official Belgrade does not want to infringe on the rights on any resident of Kosovo and wishes to find a way for everyone to live together.

"It is not our intention to humiliate anyone because we know what that means. We do not intend to make anybody feel like the loser. We want to look for solutions, defend what is ours and make the survival of our institutions, people and church possible," Bogdanovic said.

He said that Serbs need to be patient and persevere through these difficult times by drawing strength from their roots. Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) and the Serbian people are marking the religious and national holiday Vidovdan and 621 years since the 1389 Battle of Kosovo when Serbs fought to defend their lands and Christianity from the mighty Ottoman Empire.

On Vidovdan, the SPC and the Orthodox faithful in Serbia celebrate Lazar Hrebeljanovic (1329-1389) who led the Serbian army in the Battle of Kosovo and other holy martyrs who died in the battle.

Liturgies held in every Orthodox church commemorate the defeat deeply embedded in Serbian history, culture and beliefs.

The central Vidovdan ceremony held Monday at Gazimestan, near Pristina, the place where the Serbian army led by Lazar Hrebeljanovic and the army of the Ottoman Empire clashed in 1389.