CETINJE, Montenegro — Montenegro police used
teargas against rock-throwing protesters during Sunday's enthronement of a
Serbian Orthodox Church cleric as the nation's religious leader, with dozens
reported injured.
اضافة اعلان
The enthronement of Joanikije II at a monastery in the town
of Cetinje has stirred divisions within Montenegro over ties with neighboring
Serbia. Montenegro left its union with Serbia in 2006, but its church remained
under the Serbian church.
Police used gas to disperse hundreds of protesters, some of
whom threw rocks, bottles, and firecrackers as church figures arrived by
helicopter. Some people burned tires and sat on roads.
Montenegro's deputy police director Dragan Gorovic told state
TV that 20 officers were hurt, while a state clinic in Cetinje said around 30
civilians sought help for injuries.
Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic described attacks on the
police as terrorism. He blamed President Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of
Socialists, which ruled for three decades before losing elections last year,
for organizing protests.
Djukanovic, who opposes the enthronement, accused police of
excessive force. "Today we witnessed the embarrassment of both the Church
and the government," Djukanovic said on TV.
The embassies of Germany, Italy, France, Britain, the United
States and the European Union condemned violence around the enthronement of
Joanikije II, who is known as the Metropolitan of Montenegro and Archbishop of
Cetinje.
Djukanovic's adviser Veselin Veljovic was arrested for
participating in an attack against police on Sunday, state TV reported.
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