Five Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) priests in Montenegro were summoned for interrogation following mass liturgies and processions in the capital Podgorica, Adriatic town of Budva, and northern places of Berane, Danilovgrad and Pljevlja despite the limitations in the number of people allowed to gather due to anti-epidemic measures still in place in the coastal republic, the Srna news agency reported on Monday.
The Montenegrin National Coordinating Body allows up to 200 people after declaring the end of the epidemic on June 2. The religious protests across the country erupted after the authorities adopted the Law on Religious Freedoms in December last year.
The SPC saw it as an attempt to confiscate its property in Montenegro because it stipulated that all religious communities had to prove they owned the properties before 1918 or they would be declared the state property.
On Sunday night, Bishop Amfilohije said the protests would continue until the Law was withdrawn.
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said he would ask Podgorica via the European Council’s Venice Commission not to adopt the draft law. According to him, it would not be beneficial to the Serb people and added its adoption would imperil the otherwise good relationship between the two countries.
Podgorica thanked him for the advice, adding Montenegro was a sovereign state and brought its decisions independently.“That was my appeal, hope and wish… If they don’t hear it, that’s their right, and we’ll understand that and act accordingly,“ Vucic said on Saturday.
Serbs and Montenegrins are considered brotherly nations, sharing much of the history and the same religion. Some Montenegrins find themselves of a Serb origin and are confronted with others who deny such heritage.