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Bošković: Serbia openly interference in Montenegro’s internal affairs
Published on: Jan 17, 2020 • 5:09 PM Author: PR Service
Podgorica, Montenegro (17 January 2020) -- Attending the TVCG morning program, Minister of Defence Predrag Bošković emphasized that for the first time, in the events surrounding the adopted Law on Freedom of Religion, there has been an undisclosed interference of the state authorities of Serbia and some officials of that country to the internal political issues of Montenegro.
"We must be aware that Montenegro is an independent state and it is necessary to regulate its legal system," the Defence Minister highlighted and added:
"It is clear that the protests organized, in quotes by SPC are, primarily used as a negation of statehood of Montenegro, its national identity and, at the end, Montenegro as an independent state. We had messages of individuals and institutions saying that Montenegro will return as a part of Serbia, which says that the nature of the protest does not in relation to the Law on Freedom of Religion, because the Law goes towards respecting all religious freedoms and Montenegro, as a civil state. All this campaign is aimed at negating Montenegro, as a state and Montenegrins, as a nation".
All of it requires a deeper analysis of what lies behind it, Minister Bošković stated.
Minister Bošković pointed out that it was necessary to regulate the rights and obligations of religious communities, because the previous Law was adopted in 1977.
The Minister of Defence stated that the new Law was not burdensome but good, as it was also assessed by some dignitaries of the SPC.
"The SPC wants to stay out of the legal system of Montenegro. I recall, before this Law, only the SPC was not registered, because it wanted to be out of it and above the state of Montenegro. The law came into force, it will not be withdrawn but as the Prime Minister pointed out, the Government of Montenegro is ready to discuss with the MCP on the underlying agreement," Minister Bošković pointed out.
He noted that Montenegro has the full support of the international community on this issue, as it does nothing contrary to the aspirations of the EU integration.
The Minister of Defence recalled that the new law had been in the works for more than four years and it received support of all relevant international addresses, including the Venice Commission. He noted that this Law was used as a trigger for carrying out malicious activities against our country.
"Montenegro has been recognized in NATO, as a country under the great hybrid influence of various parties, primarily Serbia and Russia, which is why we had a visit of the Alliance's counter-hybrid team. Montenegro has fought and will fight, because we have the capacity to respond to such threats," Minister Bošković highlighted, recalling the events of 2016, ahead of the parliamentary elections, when we had an attempt of terrorism and assassination of the then Prime Minister.
Commenting on the developments in the Middle East, he noted that we have a de-escalation of the conflict and that the situation in the region stabilises.
"We are monitoring the situation together with the Alliance, on the basis of which we will assess whether we will send one to two soldiers to that mission in the second half of the year," the Defence Minister stressed.
PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO
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