Montenegro protesters, police clash over church head inauguration

Demonstrators set up blockades on main roads ahead of planned inauguration of new head of Serbian Orthodox Church.

Protesters have clashed with riot police in the old capital of Montenegro, setting up blockades before the inauguration of a new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the small Balkan nation. The ceremony planned for Sunday in Cetinje has angered opponents of the Serbian church in Montenegro, which declared independence from neighbouring Serbia in 2006. Since then, pro-independence Montenegrins have advocated for a recognised Orthodox Christian church that is separate from the Serbian one. For protesters, the upcoming inauguration of Metropolitan Joanikije is viewed as creeping Serbian influence – an attempt by Serbia to occupy the small Adriatic country or pull it into the so-called “Serb world”.