Montenegro not to play around with Serbian accomplices of “Russian world” sporting church robes

Montenegro goes hard on any external attempts to destabilize the country on religious grounds.

Last week, Montenegro government took a resolute step on the issue of political and religious independence by expelling from country a number of Russia-backed priests with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC).

Those who closely follow the Montenegro developments since last year’s December when local parliament passed legislation on freedom of religion and faith and the legal status of religious communities, which in fact paves way toward autocephaly of the Montenegro Orthodox Church, are well aware of the destabilizing role played by Serbian clerics.

Provoking mass protests, even during the quarantine period, looting and clashes with police, as well as openly anti-government action — all under the strict supervision of Russian “tourists” (read “GRU operatives”) — is by no means a complete list of SOC efforts made in Montenegro over the past six months.

In fact, being the same “fifth column” in Montenegro as the Russian Orthodox Church is in Ukraine, the SOC has made use of total support of Russian security agencies and their extensive human asset network in the Balkans, in rehearsing a script that could as well be applied in Ukraine.

Actually, the red lines were crossed when Serbian President Alexander Vučić and Patriarch Irenaeus of Serbia openly appealed to Russia to help “protect” Orthodoxy in Montenegro! That’s something painfully familiar to many Ukrainians who remember staged calls for Vladimir Putin to “save Orthodox believers” in Ukraine…

As a result, on June 19, the Montenegrin police served the deportation notice to Archpriest-Stavrofor Janic (a Serbian national) who has been preaching in the town of Pljeva bordering Serbia. He was told to leave country before June 26 and banned from entering for three years.

The next cleric to be expelled is Archpriest Sinis Smilic, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who resides in Ulcinj.

Both of the said archpriests have been engaged in outright anti-government activity in Montenegro so it’s not surprising they are being expelled. It is possible that such tough, albeit adequate, actions on the part of Montenegrin authorities could lead to another wave of externally-directed protests. But there’s something rather indicative for Ukraine in this whole story.

A scenario is being implemented in Montenegro to destabilize the country on religious grounds, which could very well be applied in Ukraine in the near future. But, if we’re already well aware of the template manuals Kremlin handlers have long been using in guiding their agents of influence, it would be logical that Ukraine authorities use the Montenegro experience and act to prevent similar external threats, wouldn’t it?

There’s something to think about, indeed.