Montenegro's government

The signing of the fundamental agreement between Montenegro's government and the Serbian Orthodox Church. Photo: Government of Montenegro

Abazovic signed the agreement with Church Patriarch Porfirije on Wednesday in Podgorica, stressing that all religious communities should have equal rights.

Montenegro's government looks likely to fall this week; moves to replace it with a minority administration may only stave off the inevitable - early elections.

In the semi-democracies of the region, as lives moved from the public to the digital sphere, many freedoms were likewise suspended, while the burden of responsibility for violations fell on citizens as government imposed restrictions that in many cases flouted normal standards of human rights.

Montenegro, which is hoping to find oil and gas reserves off its coast, said on Friday it has extended Energean Oil & Gas's licence by a year to explore two blocks as the Greek company required more time.

Montenegro awarded Energean a 30-year oil and gas exploration licence in 2017 for the blocks covering a combined 338 square kilometers in the Adriatic Sea's shallow waters.

The proposed new Law on the Use of National Symbols was submitted to the Montenegrin parliament on Friday after controversy caused by fines imposed on people for flying the Albanian flag.

The Montenegrin police directorate said that the Albanian national was expelled on Sunday for disrupting public order and breaching the peace by displaying the Albanian national flag at the Chestnut Festival in Ostros in the municipality of Ulcinj.

Montenegro's government needs the opposition to help it elect a new Supreme State Prosecutor, but the post may become a pawn in a bigger political game.

Montenegro's government has put forward legislation that would make not standing up for the national anthem an offence punishable by a 300 to 2,000-euro fine.

"A fine of 300 to 2,000 euros will be imposed on a person if they do not stand up during the performance of the anthem," the government press statement said.

Montenegro's government has authorised the Defence Ministry to deploy the army to help handle a migrant crisis, granting the military the right to deploy a range of joint patrols with police forces.

Montenegro's government plans to offer citizenship to foreign investors who are willing to invest in the country, especially in the undeveloped north.

The government on Thursday said it was preparing an "economic citizenship" package designed for foreign investors, and the scheme would begin on October 1.