(6 Jan 2014) Orthodox Christians across Europe celebrated the feast of Epiphany on Monday.
Epiphany is held every year on 6 January and marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas.
In Serbia hundreds of Orthodox Christians gathered at the Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade where they built a bonfire, and burned oak branches as Yule logs as Patriarch Irinej of Serbia performed a ceremony.
In Kosovo, Serbs gathered at the Gracanica monastery for a similar ceremony, with Orthodox priests saying prayers before the bonfire was lit, burning oak branches as Yule logs.
There, minority Serbs are at odds with majority ethnic Albanians who led a separatist war in 1998-99 and declared independence in 2008.
Serbia rejects the move and considers Kosovo a part of its own territory.
Last week Patriarch Irinej, Serbia's spiritual leader, urged minority Serbs in his Christmas message to persevere in ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo.
Kosovo and Serbia are locked in talks run by the European Union to overcome their differences.
Although ethnically motivated incidents have not been reported in recent years, tensions still persist.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Orthodox Christians protesting in Kiev's Independence Square in support of EU membership, held a feast of Epiphany service in a tent set up in the square to act as a church.
Kiev has seen daily protests for nearly two months against a surprise decision by the President Viktor Yanukovych in November last year to drop a landmark deal with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Russia.

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