Andrija Mandic

Montenegrin PM Zdravko Krivokapic at a parliamentary session in Podgorica. Photo: Parliament of Montenegro

On Wednesday, leaders of the Front, the largest coalition in the ruling majority, warned the government that if it did not adopt the law and dismiss the special state prosecutor, it will not vote for the state budget or other law proposals.

Andrija Mandic (R) and Milan Knezevic (L) , leaders of the pro-Russian opposition Democratic Front, attend a press conference in Podgorica, Montenegro. Photo: EFE-EPA/BORIS PEJOVIC

Serbs lined the streets of Belgrade to pay homage to the late Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej for his funeral on Sunday, despite the spike in COVID-19 infections across the country.

Irinej tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to hospital in Belgrade on November 4. His condition worsened on November 15 and he passed away on November 20, aged 90.

Parliamentarians in Montenegro from the main opposition Democratic Front, DF, have demanded the resignation of the management of the public broadcaster, RTCG, 

They made the call after RTCG broadcasted a documentary about the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the country, Metropolitan Amfilohije. 

In a gesture seen as provocative towards the Montenegrin government, the Serbian Defence Minister, Aleksandar Vulin, handed a medal on Sunday in Belgrade to a prominent opposition politician in Montenegro who the government considers a coup plotter.

Knezevic, a fierce critic of the three-decade-long rule of Djukanovic, was one of two Front leaders, along with Andrija Mandic, convicted in the first-instance ruling of involvement in a failed coup in 2016, which the authorities claim originated in Russia. They have appealed their sentences. 

Three pro-Serbian opposition deputies, Andrija Mandic, Milan Knezevic and Milun Zogovic, were brought before prosecutors in Montenegro on Friday to be charged over an incident in the country's parliament before a vote on the new law on religion.

The Montenegrin parliament passed the controversial Freedom of Religious Law amid chaotic scenes on Friday, despite fierce objections from the Serbian Orthodox Church, its supporters and pro-Serbian opposition parties.

The legislative committee of Montenegro's parliament endorsed on Tuesday a draft law on freedom of religion, the last hurdle before the legislation is debated by lawmakers on Thursday over fierce objections from the Serbian Orthodox Church, SPC.

Hundreds of Serb priests and monks protested in front of parliament before the committee session demanding the bill's withdrawal.

A clandestine meeting, bags exchanged, cash in an envelope - Russia appeared to have been caught red-handed this week in an espionage operation targeting the Serbian army.