Lecture: Religion and Politics in Contemporary Montenegro: Consequences and Perspectives
With ambassador Miodrag Vlahović, former minister of foreign affairs of Montenegro
Religion and Politics in Contemporary Montenegro: Consequences and Perspectives
“The August 2020 elections in Montenegro produced one clear winner: the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). Between December 2019 and the elections in August 2020, the SOC led the protests against the then government of Milo Đukanović. The demonstrations were spawned by the controversial Law on Freedom of Religion that was passed in December 2019. The law aimed at appropriating some of the SOC property which the government claimed rightfully belonged to either the government or the Montenegro Orthodox Church (MOC). The MOC tried to establish itself as an autocephalous-self-governing and independent-church within the Eastern Orthodox churches. However, it is not recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch in Istanbul. The SOC called the Serbs of Montenegro, who constitute almost 30% of the population according to the 2011 census, to public demonstrations. These protests were expressed as public liturgies (litija) and processions in major Montenegrin cities and towns. Both the Serbian government-as well as the government of Republika Srpska, the Serb-dominated entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina-supported the demonstrations.” – The Serbian Orthodox Church and the 2020 Montenegro Elections
Miodrag Vlahović is a Montenegrin politician and diplomat. He was the founder of Citizens Committee for Peace, a Montenegrin peace movement in 1991. Vlahović was the first Minister of Foreign Affairs upon Montenegro’s independence in June 2006 (Jun 2004-Nov 2006). He became Montenegro’s Ambassador to the United States, Canada, Iceland and he was until March 2021 the Montenegrin ambassador to the Holy See and to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, in Rome.
Zentrum für Südosteuropastudien
Graz
24.03.2021
13:00 – 15:00