His Beatitude Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia made a statement to the Serbian media on the consensus reached between the Prime Minister of Montenegro Zdravko Krivokapic and the Serbian Orthodox Church on the legal status of the Church in Montenegro. The Primate is expected to visit Montenegro after Easter.

The Patriarch pointed out that the content of the agreement is not a secret, that negotiations on this issue have been going on for a long time, and that the agreement will be available to everyone:

“Thank God we have come to an agreement with the Prime Minister of Montenegro. I am fully confident that the agreement will be signed soon. I am deeply convinced that the signing of the basic agreement between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the state of Montenegro will put an end to any misinterpretation of this issue, both at the public and at the state level. I believe that there was essentially no need for tension and misunderstandings, while that such an agreement is signed by all countries, especially in Europe, with churches and religious communities.”

When asked how he interprets the fact that the President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic said that the agreement was concluded on the sidelines, and that the procedure was not transparent, the Primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church replied that he did not know about this statement, noting that “everyone has the right to their own opinion about what is happening.”