A series of violent protests against the enthronement of Joanikije Mićović of the Serbian Orthodox Church as the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral took place at the historic Cetinje Monastery in September 2021.
The protests in Cetinje, supported by president of Montenegro Milo Đukanović, followed the unresolved issues over which the previous clerical protests (2019–2020) and the contemporaneous nationalist protests had been held. The protesters were overcome by the police that fired rubber bullets, tear gas and detonated shock bombs, while the enthronement presided over by Serbian Patriarch Porfirije Perić was held without the previously planned gathering of the faithful. Mićović and Perić were transported towards the monastery by helicopter and were then surrounded by armed men and shielded with bullet-proof blankets, an operation executed by a special police unit on the insistence of prime minister Zdravko Krivokapić.[1][2][3]
Dozens of injuries were reported.[4] Following the enthronement, by mid-September 2021, divisions within the Krivokapić Cabinet led some of the ruling coalition members such as the Democratic Front and Democratic Montenegro to demand that the government be reconstructed or a snap election be held.[5]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
rtcgkomandniwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cetinje, Agence France-Presse in (September 5, 2021). "Montenegro police teargas protesters against Serbian Orthodox church". the Guardian.
- ^ "Police Clash With Opponents of Serbian Church in Montenegro". U.S. News & World Report. September 5, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-09-06. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
aljazeerawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Kračković, Radomir (17 September 2021). "Montenegro: all against all". Deutsche Welle.