Week in Review: Opportunities and Setbacks
Source: Balkan Insight
Montenegro continues its path toward European Union membership but recent statements by senior Serbian Orthodox Church clerics, praising World War II war criminals, are causing concern and drawing criticism from local and international institutions.
Among others, Metropolitan Joanikije, the Church’s top cleric in Montenegro, caused uproar last month by praising Pavle Djurisic, a wartime Chetnik commander responsible for atrocities in Montenegro, Bosnia and Serbia, including massacres of Muslims and anti-fascist Partisans. The remarks, deemed by many as historical revisionism and hate speech, risk deepening ethnic and political divisions – and may even complicate the country’s European ambitions.
Read more: Serbian Church Clerics in Montenegro Inflame Passions by Glorifying War Criminals (July 15, 2025)
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