Montenegro to Probe Police Role in Orthodox Church Unrest

Demonstrators clash with police officers in Cetinje, Montenegro. Photo: EPA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC

"In the command chain, we will investigate every act by each individual who provided or did not provide support. That will be done in the next seven days and the public will be informed," Krivokapic told a press conference.

"No one will be spared, no matter what position they have or which political party is protecting him," he warned.

On Sunday, violence erupted in Cetinje, the old royal capital of Montenegro, after opposition supporters and self-declared patriotic groups clashed with police trying to stop the enthronement of a new Serbian Orthodox Church Metropolitan, Joanikije, at Cetinje Monastery.

The protesters claimed the inauguration in Cetinje was an insult to Montenegro's struggle for sovereignty and independence from Serbia, to which it was united from the end of World War I until 2006.

During the clashes on Sunday, several protesters and police officers were injured.

Earlier in the day, police removed roadblocks that had been erected near Cetinje in attempts to stop clerics from reaching the town for the ceremony.

Officials to probe 'security threats' to Serbian Patriarch

Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic on Tuesday announced an investigation into suspected security threats to Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije during the ceremony in Cetinje.

"If something happened to the patriarch, I will be the only one responsible. I will not allow in any way the casting of a shadow over any police officer who did their best," Abazovic told media.

Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije and the new Metropolitan of Montenegro were then transported to Cetinje by army...