Montenegro's foreign ministry has raised the level of security at its embassies in Ljubljana and Belgrade following several incidents after Montenegro's parliament adopted a new law on religious freedoms, which the Serbian Orthodox Church has interpreted as an attempt to confiscate its assets.
After the law was adopted in Montenegro's parliament, a protest rally was held on December 27 outside the Montenegrin embassy in Serbia with protesters burning the Montenegrin flag. On December 28 a plaque was torn down from the facade of the embassy building in Slovenia.
Montenegro's interior ministry issued a press release on Monday in which it noted that due to assessments of security risks by the relevant security services, the level of security has been raised to Level II at the embassy buildings.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MVP) most sharply condemns the incidents of vandalism that occurred on 27, 28 and 29 December in front of Montenegro's embassies in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Slovenia as well as the General Consulate in Sremski Karlovci. We most sharply condemn the attempt to burn the Montenegrin flag and the inappropriate act and attempt to desecrate state symbols in neighbouring and friendly countries,” the ministry said in a press release.
Authorities in Serbia then called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to be convened and that Montenegro's Ambassador to Serbia Tarzan Milosevic be proclaimed a persona non grata.
The ruling majority in the Montenegrin parliament early on Friday morning adopted a law on religious freedoms. Under the law, all religious buildings and land that are used by religious communities in Montenegro and are found to have been built with state funds or were owned by the state until 1 December 1918, would be given back to the state.
Prior to the bill being adopted several incidents erupted when the leader of the opposition Democratic Front (DF) party, tried to prevent the adoption of the law with the use of pyrotechnic devices and attacking Parliament Speaker Ivan Brajovic. As a result three deputies were arrested.
The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) believes that the law is a pretext to impound its churches and monasteries in the country.
The law was supported by the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, which believes that with its help the state will get back its property that was unlawfully registered as the property of the Serb Orthodox Church, which owns 66 mainly medieval monasteries, dozens of churches and other property.
A new incident occurred on Sunday evening when protesters attacked a police patrol with rocks injuring four police officers. One police officer incurred serious injuries to the head in the incident.
