It was only a matter of time before the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) would take a step towards softening its stance towards the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), as it no longer acts from a position of power, but must fight for voters. With this move, they begin the process of expanding their coalition capacity, although it will not be enough for them to be a desirable partner in post-election combinatorics.
So a political analyst Stefan Djukic answers the question of "Vijesti" whether the recent decision of the DPS to support the budget of the Municipality of Budva, which envisages a donation of one million euros to the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral (MCP) for the construction of a temple in that municipality, as well as the statements of some DPS officials that the Serbian Orthodox Church is not the "Church of Serbia" for them, as some from that party call it - mean a softening of the DPS's position towards the Serbian Orthodox Church.
During its three-decade rule, the DPS and its former long-time leader Milo Djukanovic They had very good relations with the Serbian Orthodox Church, but the adoption of the Law on Freedom of Religion at the end of 2019, which was proposed by the DPS, marked a split between the two parties, and was then the catalyst for the DPS's downfall in the August 2020 elections. The consequence of the passage of that regulation, which stipulated that all church property built before 1918 would be owned by the state, were processions led by the then head of the MCP. Amphilochius, which contributed to the defeat of DPS at the polls.
The strongest opposition party then took a tough stance towards the Serbian Orthodox Church, accusing it of interfering in the running of the state, undermining Montenegrin identity, working to spread the ideology of the "Serbian world", and "playing to the tune" of the Serbian president. Aleksandar VučićMedia close to the DPS and some party officials have since called the Serbian Orthodox Church the "Church of Serbia".
Head of the DPS parliamentary group in the Podgorica parliament Andrija Klikovac, stated at the end of October that he "never insulted or called the Serbian Orthodox Church the 'Church of Serbia'", which was sharply criticized on social networks by some DPS supporters, or people close to that party.
Similar reactions followed the news that a DPS official and the first man in Bar Dušan Raičević On January 6, he attended the liturgy in the Cathedral Church of Saint John Vladimir in that city, served by the Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral. Joannikius, although Raičević had been to the event in previous years.
Forced turn
Đukić told "Vijesti" that the DPS had been waiting for some time for an opportunity to make a turn in its relationship with the Serbian Orthodox Church, because, according to him, their rather "tougher" rhetoric, which could occasionally be called extremist, could not produce results in the new situation, that is, after the change of government. He assessed that the DPS could have made "tougher" statements in 2019 when they acted from a position of power and when they controlled a part of the electorate - "not ideologically, but through employment and blackmail."
He stated that now, when they have to fight for voters, it was only a matter of time before they would do something to expand their "reservoir" of votes.
"... Because given the public support for the Serbian Orthodox Church, you simply can't antagonize those voters all the time and hope to attract them in some other way. If nothing else, you would have to have a slightly milder rhetoric, if not one that is sympathetic to that position," said Đukić.
He noted that after falling from power, DPS managed to maintain the core of its voters with "tougher" rhetoric, but that the number of votes was constantly decreasing.
"Proportionally, they are doing well, but in absolute numbers they have been in constant decline for five years, and it is necessary for them to somehow stop that. At the same time, we have parties in power whose voters would find it difficult to sell any coalition with DPS while it has this 'tough' rhetoric," Đukić underlined.
Explaining the decision to support the Budva budget for 2026, which includes a donation to the MCP, a DPS councilor in the local parliament Nikola Milović He said they did it "because we are not an anti-religious party."
Đukić estimates that DPS could not have hoped to ever come to power with the rhetoric it has towards the Serbian Orthodox Church, "except in a situation in which everyone else has an enormous decline."
"That is, an enormous increase in abstention, where only DPS voters remain. That is not realistic in Montenegro. Therefore, they were certainly waiting for the moment when it would be most opportune to take some steps in that regard," the interlocutor stated.
At its 2019 party congress, the DPS adopted a program stating that it would advocate for the restoration of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. The party's then-leader, Milo Đukanović, announced in mid-June that year that the development of Montenegrin society would follow a path that, as he said, included a Montenegrin autocephalous church.
"On this path, we will certainly work on strengthening the Montenegrin identity, we have already achieved some important steps in this regard, there is one more important step left, which will also correct the grave injustice done to Montenegro at the beginning of the 20th century, and that is the restoration of the Montenegrin autocephalous church. Whether anyone likes it or not, we will work on it with dedication," Đukanović said at the time.
However, the program adopted by the DPS at last year's congress emphasizes the defense of the civil character of the state and warns against attempts at "ethnofederalization" planned by the neighborhood, while it does not mention the "independent Orthodox Church" of Montenegrin believers.
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Yesterday, DPS did not respond to the editorial team's question whether supporting the Budva budget also means a shift in their policy towards the Serbian Orthodox Church, if so - why they are doing it, and how they view the criticism of DPS supporters over that decision, but they announced that they would provide answers today.
The path to a desirable partner
When asked whether DPS's support for the Budva budget, namely the construction of the Serbian Orthodox Church temple, is their attempt to expand their modest coalition capacity in preparation for the 2027 state elections, Đukić replied that he thinks DPS has taken the first step towards making itself a desirable partner in the formation of a future government.
"It turned out that all parties are difficult in their own way and uncooperative. All parties want to have a way to sell their voters post-election coalitions of various combinations. No one wants to cooperate with anyone, let's be clear. But in this possibility where after the elections you can negotiate not with three, but with six subjects - then you can already see with whom you will make a better combination, get better positions, etc.," he said, adding that from that perspective it is obvious that this is a wink towards other parties.
Đukić says that, in that case, the biggest question would be the DPS's reaction to possible convictions of people close to the party.
"... We already had Vesna Medenica... How will DPS position itself in that case, because 'we do not comment on active court processes' can no longer apply... If the former president of the Supreme Court has been convicted in three cases, you already have to say something about it," he said.
Medenica was sentenced to six months in prison in the first instance at the end of October for abuse of office, and in early December, also in the first instance, to one year and nine months in prison for abuse of office by incitement. The Special State Prosecutor's Office, in the third case against the former first lady of the Montenegrin judiciary, has requested 20 years in prison for her and her son. Milos, suspected of being members of a criminal organization.
Đukić explained that this is both a trap for the DPS, "because they have these bailouts from the past", but also an opportunity to verbally say - "we are a reformed party".
"Something they've been saying for a long time, but no one believes it. I'm not saying that they'll actually believe it in this case, but they'll be able to sell it more easily," the source emphasized.
How to get to power
Asked how DPS's move could affect their "harder" voters, given that individuals close to the party criticized the decision to support Budva's budget on social media, Đukić responded that there was a significant reaction, which, according to him, was expected in every sense.
"The 'harder' kind of DPS offer suited such an electorate, but at the same time it further extremized it. Some of these people may not have had such strong views until they heard them from their party leaders," he said.
He stated that in this situation, the question of tactics arises, that is, that there are certainly more "hard-core" voters who will vote for DPS than those who are more moderate who might do so.
"... Because DPS is opening up to a much wider space of voters, but many more subjects are pleading for that space of voters and they are much less extreme," said Đukić, saying that he is convinced that this is the only way for DPS to return to power someday.
Perović: DPS has successfully danced with the Serbian Orthodox Church for decades
The editor-in-chief of the weekly "Monitor" Milena Perović told "Vijesti" that she sees nothing unusual in the fact that the DPS in Budva supported the budget that plans to allocate one million euros for the Serbian Orthodox Church, or for the construction of a temple in that city, nor in the statements of certain party officials that the Serbian Orthodox Church is not the "Church of Serbia" for them.
"During the decades-long rule of that party in Montenegro, the SPC had a privileged position, and Đukanović and his DPS survived for decades thanks to a successful long-term dance with the SPC, namely the late Metropolitan Amfilohije. Đukanović and Amfilohije were strategic partners for decades," she underlined, adding that the DPS was the party that led the country through the 1990s.
She noted that DPS has in the meantime "changed" as much as was necessary for it to remain in power in the changed circumstances.
"A reformed DPS after August 2020 is still just an empty wish," Perović concluded.
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