World media about the "tense" enthronement of Joanik: "SPC, the largest religious institution in Montenegro, is in conflict with Đukanović"

The world media is writing today about the "tense" enthronement of Metropolitan Joaniki of Montenegrin littoral in Cetinje, Montenegro, which took place despite the protests of the opponents of that act and their conflicts with the police.

"The new leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro was enthroned today under the protection of police forces who dispersed hostile demonstrators with tear gas in aggravating tensions over identity in the country," writes Agence France-Presse.

Metropolitan Joanikije was enthroned today in the Cetinje Monastery, where he came with the Serbian Patriarch Porfiri by helicopter, since the protesters had previously blocked the approaches to the city.

The BBC reports that police used tear gas against protesters who tried to prevent the enthronement, and states that the event "revealed the divisions in the country" that left the union with Serbia in 2006. "The Serbian Orthodox Church is the largest religious institution in Montenegro, but it is in conflict with President Milo Đukanović, who claims that the SPC is trying to undermine the country's independence and return Montenegro under Serbian control," writes the BBC, adding that President Đukanović tried to disrupt the enthronement of Joaniki to the highest ecclesiastical position of the SPC in Montenegro.

According to the BBC, Djukanovic is still feeling the effects of the defeat of his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in last year's parliamentary elections, which came after he pushed through a law that would have allowed the state to take church property.

That move backfired when the Church entered into a campaign with the opposition that ousted the DPS from power for the first time in three decades, writes the BBC.

Police in anti-demonstration equipment clashed with protesters who shot in the air and threw bottles and stones early this morning in Montenegro before the enthronement ceremony of the new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the country, AP reports.

Montenegrins are still deeply divided over their country's ties with neighboring Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church, which is the dominant religious institution in the country, writes AP and reminds that about 30 percent of Montenegro's 620.000 inhabitants consider themselves Serbs.

The President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, called for the enthronement to be postponed, and some media reported late last night that it would happen, but this was soon denied by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which stated that it would take place despite the tensions, writes AP.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, whom the opposition in Montenegro accuses of meddling in the country's internal affairs along with Russia, congratulated Joaniki on his enthronement and praised the government for holding the ceremony despite the conflicts.

According to AP, Vučić said that Serbia has no aspirations towards Montenegro, but that it wants to have the closest and best relations with it.