The Prime Minister Zoran Zaev sent a letter to Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, in which he referred to the meeting in Istanbul where his support was sought in the recognition of the autocephalous status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric (MOC-OA)

We respect everything that is set by international agreements and conditions. But we demand our church to be free within the borders of our country and be equal with the other Orthodox churches in the world, reads Prime Minister Zaev’s letter to Bartholomew.

The letter emphasizes that the Orthodox faithful in our country deserve church independence that they have been dreaming of for a century and that they expect to see the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric recognized as autocephalous, with the blessing and a written decision of Bartholomew.