Counselor at the Embassy of Montenegro in Turkey, Mirna Nikcevich, wrote on Facebook that she would “burn the church and everything … inside”, commenting on the material of another user from the service in honor of the Holy Trinity Day, which took place last Sunday in the Church of Christ’s Ascension in Podgorica – the largest Orthodox shrine in the capital.
It is important to note that we are talking about the Temple, which belongs to the canonical Serbian Orthodox Church, the Metropolis of Montenegro and Primorye. Currently, Orthodoxy in Montenegro is in a state of schism, the unrecognized Montenegrin Orthodox Church operates in parallel in the country, which enjoys the support of the pro-Western authorities and intends to repeat the “Ukrainian scenario.”
As the local portal Vesti reports, Nikchevich refused to comment on her words to journalists. The embassy of Montenegro in Turkey also did not respond to the request, and the Montenegrin Foreign Ministry stated that this is a personal correspondence with friends.
Nevertheless, this position of the representative of the diplomatic mission caused a reaction in Belgrade.
“Such statements are unacceptable, and anyone who is able to say this in the 21st century deserves adequate punishment. If a diplomat from Serbia said he wanted to burn Montenegrins, then various international organizations immediately condemned,” the foreign minister commented Serbia Ivica Dacic.
According to him, in Serbia, after this, no MFA officer could continue his career.
Earlier, in Montenegro, a number of measures were taken against the Serbian Orthodox Church. In particular, a long-discussed law was passed, according to which the TWS property will be transferred to the state. Then the President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, said that he would seek autocephaly for the Montenegrin Orthodox Church, linking this with independence from Serbia and the “European way.” Official Belgrade has condemned such actions of neighbors.
The reason for the intensification of efforts on church separatism in Montenegro and Macedonia was the provision of Tomos to Ukraine last year.