Prof. Vladimir Leposavic, a member of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral’s legal council, this week detailed the persecutions faced by the Orthodox Church in the small Adriatic country, the international reactions against continuing state harassment, as well as what he called Germany’s responsibility, as that country now holds the rotating EU presidency.
Prof. Leposavic reminded that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had published an interim report on Montenegro last month, confirming the fact that religious persecution is taking place in the country, as well as the stern condemnation of the Venice Commission against the controversial law passed by the Montenegro government regarding religious institutions – formally known with its somewhat Orwellian title, namely, “Freedom of Religion or Beliefs and legal status of religious communities”.
The CoE report said the relevant law creates conditions for the mass transfer of Church property to the state.