16.05.2020.
Minister Vulin: Montenegro is becoming a source of instability and problems in the entire region
Answering the journalists’ questions at the official farewell ceremony held for the members of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation at the "Colonel - Pilot Milenko Pavlovic" military airport in Batajnica, the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin said that Bishop Joanikije should never have been arrested.
- What the bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church experienced should not be experienced by any clergyman or any person who respects the law and who just does his or her job. I do not object to the fact that you love Montenegro. That is how it should be, but I cannot understand that you are trying to prove your love for Montenegro by hating Serbia - Minister Vulin pointed out.
If Bishop Joanikije was not the bishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, he would never have been in prison and would never have felt the force and violence shown by the Montenegrin Government, Minister Vulin concludes, adding that it is difficult for him to understand that Montenegro's national identity is proven by arresting priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church and by showing violence against their own citizens who declare themselves as Serbs.
- You cannot expect to behave like that towards Serbs, and to pretend to be on good terms with Serbia. The way you treat Serbs, is the way you treat Serbia. If you treat Serbs with whom you live in such a manner, you can expect a reaction from Serbia as your neighbouring country - said the Minister of Defence.
He expressed hope that Montenegro will rediscover itself, that it will realize once again that all its citizens are equal and that it will fight for its own stability and become again a state where everyone has the right to believe in God in any way they want and live in accordance with their origins and beliefs.
- I hope it will be so, because Montenegro is becoming a source of instability, a source of problems in the entire region, without a reason or need. I wish for Bishop Joanikije to quickly forget what happened to him, I wish for him to forgive in a Christian manner, but I wish for Serbs in Montenegro and Serbia not to forget this - Minister Vulin emphasized.
