
A new Russian-Serbian tendency to destabilize the Balkans has re-emerged. But the method does not seem new. It is about destabilization through the Orthodox Church.
On May 9, 2020, the Istanbul-based Orthodox Patriarchate recognized the autocephaly of the “Church of Ohrid”, otherwise known as the Orthodox Church of Northern Macedonia.
Regarding this case, the Russian Orthodox Church reacted immediately, saying that “this act represents a serious invasion of the Serbian Orthodox Church and has political motives.”
Such a reaction of the Russian Orthodox Church had also been related to the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Montenegro.
Later, during 2019 and 2020, protests broke out in Montenegro that created unrest in Montenegro by Serbian nationalists.
According to reports, elements of the intelligence services from Moscow and Belgrade were also involved in these protests.
As a result of these riots, in the parliamentary elections in 2020, Montenegro won the majority of the Serbian political wing of the extreme right, affiliated with the Russian Federation.