First deputy chairman of the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation, Damir Mukhetdinov, is visiting the Balkans as part of a delegation of European Muslims. This visit is expected to take the cooperation between Balkan and Russian Muslims to a new level.

The tour programme includes visits to several countries of the region for scheduled meetings with religious and political leaders.

The delegation of the European Muslim Forum is headed by the President of the EMF, Abdul-Wahid Niyazov. It also includes the Lithuanian Mufti Romas Jakubauskas, European Muslim researcherss Nader Akkad (Italy) and Karim Ifrak (France) and others.

On 28 June the delegation visited the Parliament of Serbia, the National Assembly in Belgrade, where it was received by the Deputy President of the National Assembly, Muamer Zukorlić. The principal of the Islamic Institute in Novi Pazar, Enver Gigić, participated in the conversation on behalf of the Serbian side.

Damir Mukhetdinov spoke about the RMC activities in Russia and historical development of Islam in our country, He invited Serbian Muslims to take part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 1100th anniversary of official adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgaria.

Today Muslims are a minority in multicultural and multireligious countries such as Russia and Serbia, this is why the Muslim leaders of both countries focus on educating the younger generation and preparing qualified personnel for their communities. In this context the parties discussed the project of the Balkan centre for Qur'an hafizs implemented in Novi Pazarunder the patronage of the Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov.