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Protesters clashed with police ahead of the inauguration of the new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro
Photo: STEVO VASILJEVIC / REUTERS
Angry protesters fought with the police ahead of the inauguration of the new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro.
Hundreds of protesters broke police barriers on the outskirts of Cetinje in the south of the country and set up roadblocks with car tires and stone blocks on Saturday.
People shouted slogans like “This is not Serbia!” And “Long live Montenegro!”.
By evening all access roads to the city were blocked, where the new Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Joanikije, is to be inaugurated on Sunday.
According to reports, the demonstrators want to prevent Joanikije and the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije, who had traveled from Belgrade, from coming to Cetinje.
They rate the ceremony in the monastery of the historic capital as a demonstration of power by the pro-Serbian camp in Montenegro.
Tensions over the independence of Montenegro
Montenegro gained independence from Serbia in 2006.
Almost a third of the 620,000 inhabitants define themselves as ethnic Serbs, some to this day deny Montenegro's independence.
The impending inauguration of the Serbian Orthodox head of the church caused ethnic tensions to escalate again.
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The government in office since December is considered close to the church.
In December it amended a law introduced by President Milo Djukanovic's Socialist Party to make hundreds of Serbian Orthodox monasteries state-owned.
President Djukanovic also met on Saturday evening for the protests against the inauguration of the new Metropolitan in Cetinje.
He led the country to independence from Serbia in a referendum in 2006.
Last year his presidential party lost the general election - and with it he lost most of his power.
The new government is supported by the pro-Serb camp, but also by promontenegrin liberals and the Greens.
The coalition partners accuse Djukanovic of corruption and involvement in organized crime.
tfb / dpa / AFP