Like on Bolotnaya: Serbian Maidan activists began persecuting the Church for refusing to support the protests

The motley Serbian opposition, which has been holding anti-government protests in Belgrade since December demanding the overthrow of President Aleksandar Vucic, entered into open confrontation with the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irinej, who refused to support the demonstrators.

The day before, speaking at a memorial event in Nis dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the start of the bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO troops, the Patriarch noted that the escalation of confrontation harms the unity of the Serbian people.

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“What is happening on the streets is not good. This gives strength to our enemies,” said the head of the Serbian Church.

He noted that among the protesters there are those who deliberately set themselves the goal of causing harm to the unity of the Serbian people. “For the good of the country, we need to become closer to each other - this is the most important thing today. This is what our history, our culture and our glorious ancestors expect from us,” Irenaeus emphasized.

Such words aroused anger from radical protesters. Members of the “Union for Serbia” wrote a letter to the Patriarch, in which they expressed bewilderment “why protests, in principle, became the topic of his speech at an event dedicated to the start of NATO bombing,” and also accused him of interfering in political issues, which “was not appropriate for a man of his position "

Vice-chairman of the People's Party, part of the Union for Serbia, Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, considered that the Patriarch gave the go-ahead to the current government to deepen the split in Serbia. “The patriarch must reconcile us, and not take sides. I would recommend that he pay attention to Patriarch Pavel, who stood at the head of the protesters, went to talk with the authorities and did not throw stones at anyone,” said Raskovic-Ivic.

Here we should recall similar situations associated with violent coups in Eastern European countries, which are called “velvet” or “color” revolutions. The organizers of all these actions tried to win over the Church. And, if this was successful in the late 80s, then after the Serbian “bulldozer revolution” of 2000, which ended with the collapse of Yugoslavia, the Church increasingly firmly opposed such revolutions.

The Russian Orthodox Church also took a firm position during the so-called “Swamp Revolution” - then this caused a whole flurry of anti-church campaign in the liberal media and a scandalous action by the blasphemers from “Pussy Riot”.

Representatives of the canonical clergy also condemned the “revolutions” in Moldova in 2009 and in Ukraine in 2014.

According to the famous public and church figure, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, it is necessary to “separate the rams from the goats” and figure out who is really behind these protests.

“I’m watching the Euronews channel, where they show exactly the same picture that we saw on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow,” the priest told PolitNavigator.

As Father Vsevolod notes, the Serbian Orthodox Church could initiate a meeting with opposition leaders and ask them direct questions about their attitude towards the European Union, towards Russia, towards NATO. Are the Belgrade Maidan activists really ready to defend Serbian sovereignty over Kosovo and Metohija, or are they a weapon in the hands of the West with the goal of the final destruction of Serbia?

The rector of the Archangel Michael Monastery, Abbot Afanasy (Selichev), is convinced that any violent change of power, even the most “bad” one in the worldly sense, leads to much greater troubles than those that caused the revolution. Moreover, any revolution. Either liberal or conservative. Because brotherly blood will be shed in any case, he explained to PolitNavigator.

“Therefore, I fully understand and share the position of His Holiness Irenaeus, whose words and actions are aimed specifically at preserving peace in long-suffering Serbia. The Church is not a political party, and neither liberals nor national radicals should use it in political struggle. No matter how beautiful words justify revolutionary violence, the Church should not participate in a fratricidal quarrel,” noted Father Afanasy.

Orthodox publicist Kirill Frolov also believes that the organizers of protests in Serbia, at the direction of the West, may take revenge on Patriarch Irenaeus for refusing to support a new church schism in Ukraine, caused by Constantinople.

“The United States is dissatisfied with the uncompromising position of Patriarch Irenaeus against the heresies of Bartholomew. One of the goals of the West is to overthrow the Serbian Patriarch Irenaeus and the Albanian Metropolitan Anastasius, who spoiled Bartholomew’s holiday of heresy, preventing the Local Churches from recognizing a graceless sect that does not have apostolic succession,” Frolov told PolitNavigator.