The government of Montenegro introduced a law against the Serbian Church into parliament
The government of Montenegro has introduced a bill “on freedom of religion” to parliament, despite protests from the Serbian Orthodox Church, which accuses the authorities of intending to confiscate churches and monasteries in favor of local schismatics, whom the authorities will legalize, repeating the Ukrainian scenario.
This was reported by the publication BalkanInsight, as reported by a correspondent of PolitNavigator.
“The government does not intend to enter churches and does not intend to prevent anyone from exercising their religious rights in these buildings,” assured Montenegro Justice Minister Zoran Pazin.
Prime Minister Dusko Markovic said the government would introduce the law regardless of whether it received Church approval.
The priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Velibor Dzomic, said that the government ignored his proposals. The Church's Legal Council submitted various comments to the government on November 27, but received no response.
“I’m not a prophet, but it’s clear that an unprecedented politicization of the right to freedom of religion is being prepared,” he said.
The law will be discussed at a special session of parliament at the end of December. Pro-Serbian opposition parties warned that the government risks jeopardizing social peace in Montenegro. The largest opposition bloc, the Democratic Front, said mass protests against the law were likely.
“The law creates a dangerous situation. If the government shows stubbornness, a huge number of citizens will protest,” said front MP Predrag Bulatovic.
The Serbian Orthodox Church is the largest denomination in multi-ethnic Montenegro, but its relations with the country's pro-Western government have always been poor.
The government considers the Church hostile to the country's independence, and generally too pro-Russian and pro-Russian. The church accuses the government of constantly trying to undermine it and strip the country of its Serbian heritage.
The bill stipulates that all churches and monasteries built before December 1, 1918, when, according to the new official historical propaganda, the so-called “occupation” of Montenegro by the kingdom of the CXC - Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and subsequently by Yugoslavia - will become the property of the state.
Thus, the Montenegrin authorities declared claims to the main shrines of the Orthodox Church, such as the monastery of St. Basil of Ostrog, Cetinje and other monasteries, as well as churches of the Montenegrin-Litoval Metropolis of the SOC.
As in Ukraine, in Montenegro the authorities, with the support of the West, are lobbying for the creation of their own religious “Orthodox” structure - the schismatic Montenegrin Orthodox Church. It is possible that the taken property should subsequently go to her.
The Montenegrin government has introduced a law against the Serbian Church in parliament.