His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije has stressed today in Podgorica after signing of the Fundamental Agreement that this agreement is necessary for both the state of Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC).

The Patriarch said that Montenegro could always be, as it had been throughout the centuries, a home for all people, no matter where they came from.

“I am, first of all, grateful to God today, grateful to you, Mr. Prime Minister, for all the efforts you made with your coworkers to end the ups and downs that have been going on since 2012 here, in a solemn way, and to sign the Fundamental Agreement between the State of Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church,” said Patriarch Porfirije after signing the document.

His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije and Montenegro Prime Minister, Dritan Abazović, have signed the Fundamental Agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the Serbian Orthodox Church today in Podgorica.

The Agreement was signed in the presence of the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church: His Eminence Metropolitan Joanikije of Montenegro and the Littoral, His Eminence Bishop Vasilije of Srem, Bishop Fotije of Zvornik-Tuzla, Bishop Atanasije of Mileševa, Metodije of Budim-Nikšić, Dimitrije of Zahumlje and Herzegovina, as well as the secretary of the Holy Archdiocese Synod of Archimandrite, Nektarije.

The Montenegro Government delegation included the Ministers of Justice, Marko Kovač, Ministers of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Vladimir Joković, Ministers of Health, Dragoslav Šćekić, Ministers of Finance, Aleksandar Damjanović, and Prime Minister’s Media Adviser Ivo Šoć.