Montenegro Alters Contentious Religion Law, Satisfies Serbian Church

Montenegrin Justice, Human and Minority Rights Minister Vladimir Leposavic at a press conference. Photo: Government of Montenegro

On Friday, the new government proposed changes erasing the main bone of contention - an obligation on religious communities to provide clear evidence of ownership in order to retain their properties.

The new Minister of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, Vladimir Leposavic, said the changes had been proposed after wide consultations with religious communities.

"We propose a law that is religiously sensitive and that protects the rights of all religious communities, more than the previous one. In five days, this government has done more for dialogue with religious communities than the previous one did in five years," Leposavic said.

"The previous law provoked large-scale protest and we had to change it urgently to ease the tensions in society," the minister added.

Since the last parliament passed the law in December 2019, Serbian Orthodox Church priests, believers, and supporters have staged numerous protests in public demanding its withdrawal. The Serbian Church - whose relations with the previous government were already poor - claimed the new law would allow the state to confiscate its property.

On August 30, three opposition blocs won a slender majority of 41 of the 81 seats in parliament, ousting the long-ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS. After the election, the new Prime Minister, Zdravko Krivokapic, promised that changing the controversial law would be a priority.

According to the changes, there will be no registration of religious buildings and sites owned by the independent kingdom of Montenegro before it became part of the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and...