BELGRADE, September 5. /TASS/. Western forces are trying to destroy the Serbian Orthodox Church in the former Yugoslavia as well as the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and some other countries, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the Prva TV on Sunday.
"Some Western forces in the region view the Serbian Orthodox Church as the Russian Orthodox Church in the former USSR. Just like it is necessary to destroy the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, some Central Asian countries, although they have failed to do so, the Serbian Orthodox Church should be destroyed as well," he said commenting on the developments in Montenegro.
The situation in Montenegro has worsened dramatically due to the enthronement of Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral, which took place at the Cetinje monastery on Sunday. On Friday, members of the nationalist and pro-Nazi Montenegrin groups and supporters of the canonically unrecognized "Montenegrin Church" began arriving in the city of Cetinje. The protesters blocked the entrance to the city with car tires. That process was coordinated by the country’s former ruling party, the Democratic Party of Socialists, led by Milo Djukanovic who lost control of the government amid mass protests by believers against infringing upon the rights of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
On Sunday morning, nationalists attacked the police with stones, firecrackers and bottles. Law enforcers responded by using tear gas. Four people were slightly injured. Later on, the instigators of the riots, including Djukanovic's adviser Veselin Veljovic, were arrested.