This Government won’t allow disrespect for Montenegro, in which the same principles of the rule of law must apply both for a citizen and a priest. One cannot be beyond the reach of the Constitution and the law simply because you serve a church or a religious community, while not respecting the state and its institutions. The fact is that the Serbian Orthodox Church, via the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral has certain interests in our country, which are primarily political, and then religious and spiritual, said Prime Minister Duško Marković in an interview for the weekend edition of Dnevne Novine daily.
PM Marković said a recent statement by the Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej, who compared the position of the Serbian people in Montenegro to that of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), represented official position of the SPC and the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral towards Montenegro.
“It starts from the thesis on Montenegro as a Serbian state in which, as they say, the church is older than the state. It means that MNE should not be respected. It is disputed and all citizens’ decisions about the future of Montenegro are continuously being disputed. The constitutional order of Montenegro as a civil, not a national state, is also not respected. Therefore, the claims made by Patriarch Irinej about the position of Serbs in our country are incorrect and despicable,” PM Marković noted.
When asked whether he recognizes in this statement an attempt to pressure Montenegro and the Government because of the announced adoption of the Law on Religious Communities, PM Duško Marković said such a pressure has been absolutely obvious.
“Montenegro cannot be denied access to public, state properties, used by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral. As a state, we have built and helped a lot, and we haven’t seized anything. The question is whether there would have been the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ today in Podgorica if the Government had not allocated significant funds for this valuable building. Accordingly, vulgar attacks on the state and its institutions will have to stop. These attacks most often come after secret supper with the opposition. So, if the Patriarch wanted to discourage us, he failed. The law will be adopted,” the Prime Minister was adamant.
