Church Protests in Montenegro – Key Facts

How and why did the protests begin?

Protest rally in Podgorica, Montenegro, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC

Large-scale protests, as well as some road blocks, began after the Montenegrin parliament adopted the law on December 27, 2019.

As lawmakers considered the bill, police shut down central Podgorica and halted a column of protesters headed by bishops and priests of the SPC; they instead held an open-air liturgy, denouncing the legislation.

People took to the streets in several other cities and towns in support of the Podgorica protest and some roads were blocked. Some towns saw unrest, with police using pepper spray to disperse crowds and arresting dozens.

The law envisages a register of all religious objects and sites that authorities say were the property of the independent Kingdom of Montenegro before it became part of the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, later renamed Yugoslavia.

Under the law, religious communities will have to provide clear evidence of ownership in order to retain their property, a provision that the SPC says is designed to allow the government to strip it of its holdings. The government denies harbouring any designs on Church assets.

Following adoption of the law, the SPC continued to lead daily protest marches, in Podgorica, Bar, Niksic, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Andrijevica, Herceg Novi, Danilovgrad, Pluzine and Zabljak.

After Orthodox Christmas on January 7, the protests became twice weekly, on Thursdays and Sundays. The SPC says some 50,000 people are taking part, in a country of just 650,000.

Who are the organisers?

Clergy of the SPC in Montenegro - led by Metropolitan Amfilohije - are organising the...