Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro Filip Ivanović said today, responding to questions from members of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET), that each of the dioceses of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) is fundamentally independent in its functioning and that the head of the SPC in Montenegro is Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral, and not Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia.
"The Serbian Orthodox Church, like every Orthodox church, is organized according to different episcopacies and dioceses, and each of these dioceses is basically independent in its functioning. So, when you say that the head of the largest religious community in Montenegro went to Putin, that is not true. The Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church went to Putin. The Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro is Archbishop Joanikije and he did not attend this meeting and I call on everyone to investigate this in more detail," said Ivanovic, responding to the statement by Croatian MEP Tomislav Sokol (HDZ) that "the head of the largest religious organization in Montenegro" met with Putin.
Sokol later wrote on the X network: "Does this mean that Joanikije is transferring to the Montenegrin Orthodox Church?".
Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, during a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, said: "I feel that our position regarding Kosovo, RS and Montenegro also depends on Russia's position."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today that Porfirio's statements are inappropriate and unacceptable.
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