Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A popular self-belief is that Montenegro has a better tolerance of ethnic and religious
minorities than many of its neighbours. This is possibly true, although you may still hear
some mutterings from locals about the threat of a Greater Serbia/Albania/Croatia.
MONTENEGRIN VS SERB
The issue of identity is particularly thorny with regard to current Montenegrin-Serb relations. For centuries,
Montenegrins considered themselves 'the best of the Serbs', keeping the flame of independent Serbian culture
alive while their brethren elsewhere were under the Ottoman yoke. Pro-Serbian graffiti covers the country and
while most Montenegrins feel a strong kinship to their closest siblings, this is coupled with a determination to
maintain their distinct identity.
The main unifying factor has traditionally been the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), but even that was
shaken with the formation of a new Montenegrin Orthodox Church (MOC) in 1993, claiming to revive the self-
governing church of Montenegro's
vladikas
(prince-bishops) which was dissolved in 1920. Furthermore, they
claim that all church property dating prior to 1920, and any churches built with state funds since, should be re-
turned to it. The SOC doesn't recognise the MOC and neither do the other major Orthodox churches. The SOC
still controls most of the country's churches and monasteries. Relations between the two churches have been ac-
rimonious, to the say the least.
On a temporal level, things have been equally tense. After negotiating a reasonably amicable divorce from the
unhappy state union with Serbia in 2006, relations took a turn for the worse. In 2008 Serbia expelled
Montenegro's ambassador after Montenegro officially recognised the former Serbian province of Kosovo as an
independent country, joining around 50 other nations that had already done so. Serbia has vowed never to recog-
nise Kosovo, which many Serbs view as their spiritual heartland.
Diplomatic relations between Montenegro and Serbia have since improved. After his election in 2012, Serbian
president Tomislav Nikolić, regarded as a nationalist, stated 'I recognise Montenegrin independence, but I don't
recognise any difference between Serbs and Montenegrins, because it doesn't exist.'
