Reactions continued in the wake of the ratification of a contentious bill considered by the Orthodox Church in the Adriatic country as infringing on religious freedom and threatening the Church’s stature and property. Hundreds of protestors took to the streets around the country to express their opposition, with local media reporting arrests.
Moreover, 18 MPs of the pro-Serbian opposition were arrested inside Montenegro’s Parliament on the charge of trying to illegally prevent passage of legislation.
In Belgrade, the Patriarch of Serbia, His Holiness Irinej, expressed his concern over developments in Montenegro, a predominately Christian Orthodox country, in comments to Serbia’s new ambassador to the latter, Vladimir BOzovics.