There’s room for dialogue between the state and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), assessed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Srđan Darmanović, stressing that the most important thing is to preserve peace and stability in Montenegro.
Ministar @MFA_MNE Srdjan Darmanovic u intervjuu @AgencijaM : Postoji prostor za dijalog, najvažnije sačuvati mir i stabilnost u Crnoj Gori 🇲🇪 https://t.co/VoaI4gymGR pic.twitter.com/k3IqDlQxCt
— Vlada Crne Gore (@VladaCG) January 14, 2020
He also emphasized that there was no fear of any attack on the property right and added that propaganda of many political structures in Serbia greatly contributed to destabilization of the situation.
Commenting on the current relations between Podgorica and Belgrade and whether he thought they [relations] have never been worse since 2006, Minister Darmanović said that Montenegro has been striving to implement politics which would contribute to the stability in the region and that good neighborly relations have been one of its three main pillars of the foreign policy.
“It refers to Serbia as well – our neighbor and a significant partner. However, the latest events on the occasion of the new religious freedom law do not contribute to good relations. On the contrary, they are making the situation even worse,” Minister Darmanović told MINA news agency.
Minister @MFA_MNE Srđan Darmanović, interview @AgencijaM: The propaganda, launched from various parts of #Serbia's political structures and the broader political community against #Montenegro, has probably reached the highest level since Milošević wartime and the 2006 referendum. pic.twitter.com/38u8lN850Y
— Govt. of Montenegro (@MeGovernment) January 14, 2020
According to him, the recent events represented a form of a serious meddling into the internal affairs of a sovereign country, a NATO member state and a serious candidate country for the EU membership.
The most problematic thing, the Minister added, was that the highest-ranking Serbian officials interfered in this whole matter, while they were supposed to contribute to the good neighborly relations and the stability in the region.
“Protesters targeted the embassy of MNE to Serbia, tried to burn the Montenegrin flag and the reaction of Serbia’s state bodies was pretty mild, not to say – inadequate.”
He also told he hoped there was room for returning the relations between the two countries back to their ‘normal state’, primarily in terms of the EU integrations and many other regional initiatives.
