TIRANA, June 30 – The meeting between the Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije and the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazovic was held at the Patriarchate on Thursday.
The Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije, said after the meeting with Abazovic that an agreement on the Basic Agreement had been reached in principle and that the text agreed in the Government of Montenegro should be passed to the Synod and confirmed.
“Given the fact that the church is separate from the state and that our church, wherever it has its jurisdiction, respects absolutely every state and its laws,” said Porfirije. He said that the drafting of the Basic Agreement has entered the final stage.
“At the moment, I think I can say that an agreement has been reached and an agreement has been reached on the Basic Agreement, provided that the procedures are followed when it comes to the Government of Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church. The existing text that has been harmonized must be passed by the Synod and confirmed and accepted, and if it is in order then we will reach an agreement on the date of signing it,” said the Patriarch.
He stressed that when everything is completed for the signing of the Basic Agreement, it will contribute to the normalization of relations between the state of Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church.
“We concluded that, as in all countries where our church exists, it is important that the relationship between church and state be regulated by contract,” he said, noting that such a contract had been made in Montenegro since 2012 but was not agreed.
Porfirije thanked all those who helped for the agreement to achieve its goal, both the current Montenegrin government and previous governments. “I feel that I, who contributed the least, got that joy and the opportunity to be one of the signatories of the Basic Agreement in Montenegro on behalf of our church,” he said.
Abazovic says the contract will be signed in Montenegro at a later date
For his part Abazovic said that the meeting was constructive and discussed the issue of the Basic Agreement.
“We have completed the procedures at the level of working groups; we will go further in the procedures even in the Government session. The church has its procedures in its body. I do not see any problem there, if everything follows a good spirit. This issue will be put into action in the best possible way in order to show respect to the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, but also to the state of Montenegro, which is secularly regulated,” he said.
Abazovic announced that the Basic Agreement will be signed in Montenegro and there will be an agreement on the date.
In addition the PM said other topics are open that could be important to everyone, and noted that everyone should do their job.
“This is a continuation of the visit to Serbia, which was very fruitful. All we have done in the last two days is to restore relations and send a message to the region. The region has tried everything except reconciliation and cooperation. It is time to move differently and give a chance for reconciliation and cooperation,” said Abazovic.
For his part Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said the government should take into account the interests of the state and the agreement is not the most important issue for Montenegro. Djukanovic said he was convinced that no one questioned the rationale for the Basic Agreement and that it was unjustified that no agreement had been signed so far.
“This is certainly not the most important issue for Montenegro and its future and that public discussion on this issue should not be rushed or avoided,” he said. According to him, the most important thing for Montenegro is to unblock the negotiation process (with the EU) and go to Europe, but given the circumstances it has become an important political issue. He also stressed that he was optimistic and said that “Montenegro has shown that it has a democratic capacity for much more difficult challenges.”
It should be recalled that the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Abazovic said in Wednesday’s meeting with the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabic that he is leading a “European and secular state”, which means that all religious communities, as he said, will have the same treatment.
/Argumentum.al
