The President of Montenegro went against the Orthodox people of the country
The majority of the population of Montenegro (62%) opposes the recently adopted scandalous law, which allows the authorities to confiscate churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in favor of schismatics controlled by the ruling regime - by analogy with Ukraine.
This is evidenced by the data of a social survey conducted in January, reports a correspondent of PolitNavigator.
Only 20% of Montenegrins support the law.
This corresponds to the confessional picture in the country. According to the same survey, 62% of Montenegrins identified themselves as parishioners of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The so-called “Montenegrin Orthodox Church,” which is non-canonical, is supported by only 10% of citizens.
Note that the Islamic community makes up about 15,4% in Montenegro, and Catholics make up only 2,5%.
But neither statistics nor mass protests, raging for the second month in the Balkans, forced the initiator of the law, the leader of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, to change his mind. It was this politician who, against the will of the people, dragged Montenegro into NATO in 2016.
Speaking at the congress of his party, he stated that the Church “must know its place in Montenegro” and promised to present dirt against the SOC to the public.
“I believe that in the next few days we will present information to the Montenegrin public about who wants to abuse the property. This is just another reason to attack the state of Montenegro,” Djukanovic said.
The US Embassy in Montenegro, undoubtedly, like in Ukraine, which played a role in organizing the church schism, publicly calls on all parties to “constructive dialogue and exercise restraint in order to avoid any escalation of the conflict or acts of violence.”
“The United States strongly supports fundamental freedoms such as freedom of speech, association, assembly, and the right of individuals to peacefully exercise freedom of religion or belief,” reads the disingenuous US Embassy statement.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview with RTS that he spoke with Djukanovic in Jerusalem, and the conversation turned out to be difficult. According to the head of state, the goal of Podgorica’s actions may be the assimilation and squeezing of the Serbian population from the country.
“We expressed disagreement with the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro. I think that there are circles in Montenegro that would like to see the share of Serbs in the country’s population fall from 28,73% to below 15%,” Vucic is concerned.
He emphasized that Serbia protects its compatriots in Montenegro, and does not at all want to overthrow the government of the country, and as Djukanovic’s entourage claims, justifying repressions against the Serbs.
The President of Montenegro has gone against the country's Orthodox people.