As the ministry emphasized, the new legislative act, in particular, provides the Montenegrin authorities with the opportunity to seize from the Serbian Orthodox Church “over 650 religious sites located in the country,” which can be transferred to the jurisdiction of the “schismatic unrecognized“ Montenegrin Orthodox Church ”.
“In essence, we are talking about increasing administrative pressure on the TWS with the goal of completely squeezing it out of Montenegro,” they said.
The Foreign Ministry called for the rights of canonical Orthodox churches to be respected, because attempts to create conditions for the separation of believers are "fraught with big problems."
December 27, it became known that the parliament of Montenegro adopted a law on religion.
As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted on December 18, the discussion of the bill on religious freedom and the legal status of religious communities in Montenegro is the prerogative of this country and its people, but it should be borne in mind that this may affect the interests of the Serbian Orthodox Church.