In Montenegro – new persecution of the Serbian Orthodox Church
In Montenegro, which separated from Serbia several years ago, another incident occurred, which can be interpreted as another link in the campaign to oppress the Serbian Orthodox Church, encouraged by the ruling regime.
A group of Albanians threatened the nuns of the Beshka monastery on Lake Skadar, which belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church. The ancient shrine is located on a secluded island; in total, 16 nuns and novices live in the monastery. Women are trying to restore two medieval churches on their own.
One of the nuns, Varvara, told the Tanyug agency about the incident.
According to her, last Wednesday ten men, several women and children entered the monastery complex, demanding to be allowed to film the unique complex with a professional camera.
When the nuns pointed out that this required the blessing of the metropolis, they were interrupted with laughter.
“Isn’t this a Catholic monastery?” – Blic quotes one of the uninvited guests.
Next, a group of Albanians demanded to call a nun living in the monastery, known for speaking Albanian (she previously lived in Albania, but is herself a Serb).
According to Varvara, the monastery hoped that after the nun’s arrival the tension would subside when she spoke to the visitors in Albanian, but at some point she heard the screams of the Albanians.
“We will drive you out of here. This is ours, just like ours and Kosovo!” - the Albanians shouted.
“They also told us that they were ready to spend a lot of money to drive us out of the monastery, and they claim that this was supposedly previously a Waqf mosque, and that it belonged to them,” said the nun.
Varvara also said that the uninvited guests threatened to meet again, so the nuns are afraid of an attack outside the monastery.
Representatives of the Church filed a statement with the police, but the identities of the Albanians who threatened have not been established.
Varvara recalled that this is not the first case of aggression - last year, two Albanians attacked an excavator that was working on the restoration of the monastery.
The incident was commented on by the opposition political coalition in Montenegro, the Democratic Front.
Member of the Montenegrin Parliament Jovan Vukurovich believes that the incident is connected with the “Greater Albania” project, the authors of which lay claim not only to the lands of Serbia, but also to other neighboring states.
At the same time, the Montenegrin authorities prefer to turn a blind eye “to open provocations and threats,” the parliamentarian stated.
“This behavior of the ruling regime encourages extremists from the Albanian and Bosnian parties, ... we have an attack on Metropolitan Amfilohije near Ulcinj, KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) terrorists in Tuzi, politicians from the false state of Kosovo declaring parts of Montenegro the “Albanian Alps”, and leaders terrorists are honorary citizens of some local municipalities,” Vukurovic said.
In his opinion, Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic prefers to flirt with “Albanian and Bosnian circles,” which, in turn, “extensively exploit the regime’s weaknesses.”
At the same time, the ruling regime of Montenegro is carrying out repression of the Serbs, as happened the other day when the security forces opened a criminal case for holding a patriotic Serbian festival.
According to Vukurovic, Orthodox Christians in Montenegro are ready to defend their symbols and shrines.
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