Cetinje, December 25, 2025

The anti-Serbian and anti-church hysteria that has developed in recent days in a very vocal and extremely intolerant, but fortunately small, part of Cetinje society is the last straw that has truly turned into an open attempt at apartheid that these groups are implementing in Cetinje.

The campaign began when two people (one of whom is a priest, a doctoral candidate - master of theology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the other a graduate theologian), who are responsible for taking care of the rich archival materials of the Metropolis, concluded contracts for volunteer work at the State Archives of Montenegro in Cetinje, in order to improve their skills for the better preservation and maintenance of church archives, which are, I guess, no need to explain, part of the overall archival heritage of our country.

This intention, however, encountered a startling and very dangerous relationship of well-known addresses, who suspected our Church of having some ulterior motives in connection with the management of the State Archives. Professors from a non-university higher education institution in Cetinje took the lead in this with a series of texts, and one university professor called future volunteers worse than the Archive than termites.

It all culminated in a chauvinistic-racist proposal by the unfortunate mayor of Cetinje, who “understood the concerns of the citizens” and came up with the “brilliant” idea of ​​allowing volunteers to be engaged, but that the process of their volunteering “takes place outside the State Archives building”.

Truly – “brilliant”, although not that original.

The ideas we heard from professors, groups of citizens and the mayor already resemble some that we have had the opportunity to see in history. For example, the idea of ​​“allowing” members of a certain race to ride buses, but only in designated places. Not with the “normal” world.

Or perhaps, like that, an equally “genius” idea to, for the sake of their “safety” and to avoid “disturbing” the citizens, mark members of a certain nation with visible signs and not allow them to carry out certain activities, so that the citizens would not be “concerned”.

This discriminatory behavior of those professors and mayors and that entire group of unfortunate people trapped in hatred must stop immediately.

We call on all competent state bodies to examine all the circumstances and, in accordance with the law, determine whether the actions and public attitudes of these “concerned” people constitute elements of criminal, misdemeanor or some other liability.

We wonder how much more anti-Serbian and anti-church hatred and discrimination needs to be poured out in the public space of Montenegro for the institutions to react adequately to it?

We believe that there is a place for at least one of the hundreds of NGOs that fight discrimination every day to speak out, although some of them sometimes participate in anti-church campaigns themselves.

Although in recent decades we have become accustomed to what we should never have become accustomed to, nor should we ever have been exposed to, we call on all holders of the highest state and local authorities, as well as political parties, to publicly declare these chauvinistic-racist ideas and comments.

Silence, especially in such drastic cases, is without a doubt a sign of approval of hateful attitudes.

There cannot and should not be room for such racism and hatred in a civilized society.

From the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral