Porfirije in Podgorica: Express your identity as Serbs

(Patria) - Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) Porfirije told the citizens of Montenegro that he feels the need to support them in decisively expressing "their identity as believers of the SPC, speakers of the Serbian language and proud members of the Serbian people" on every occasion.

- It is the right, responsibility, obligation, and duty of each of us - Porfirije said last night in front of the Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection in Podgorica, where he was welcomed at the beginning of his two-day visit to Montenegro.

He sent the same message from the same place during the liturgy on October 15, which was attended by the Russian Ambassador to Podgorica, Vladislav Maslenikov.

The message comes ahead of the census in Montenegro, scheduled for early November, which focuses on citizens' national, religious, and linguistic self-identification.

Pro-Serbian and pro-Russian forces and media in Montenegro are campaigning, urging citizens to declare themselves as Serbs and thus "return the Serbian identity" to the state. According to the last census in 2011, 29 percent of Serbs and 45 percent of Montenegrins live in Montenegro.

Croatia protested to the Montenegrin authorities regarding the display of "famous figures from Croatian history" who were promoting Serbian identity on billboards in Montenegro before the census.

Porfirije explained that it is necessary for citizens to preserve their Serbian identity because "we live in a time of destruction of traditional identities".

- In a time of aggressive imposition of constructed identities for the purpose of manipulation and machinations, it is important to defend and preserve who we are - our religious, personal, family, national identity, the identity of our ancestors, but also of our descendants - said Porfirije.

Heads of the SPC have been denying the Montenegrin nation for years, interpreting it as part of a broader Serbian identity, writes RSE.

In addition to several hundred citizens, officials from parties that have been in power since 2020, the pro-Serbian and pro-Russian Democratic Front, Democrats, and the Socialist People's Party also attended the ceremonies.

Leaders of right-wing parties from Serbia - Boško Obradović from "Dveri" and Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski from "Zavetnici" - were also present.