Montenegro flared up along ethnic lines as protesters clashed with hundreds of riot police in the country’s old capital Cetinje on Saturday ahead of the inauguration of the new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the small Balkan nation. The protestors set up blockades of tires and large rocks in their demonstrations.

The ceremony planned for Sunday in Cetinje has angered opponents of the Serbian church in Montenegro, which declared independence from neighboring Serbia in 2006.

Hundreds of protesters confronted the police in Cetinje on Saturday and briefly removed some of the protective metal fences around the site of the inauguration of Mitropolitan Joanikije.

The protesters broke through a police blockade at the entrance to Cetinje and threw stones at them, shouting “This is Montenegro!” and “This is not Serbia!”, Montenegrin state RTCG TV reported.

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Protesters waved red Montenegrin flags with a double-headed eagle and set up road barriers with trash containers, car tires, and large rocks to prevent church and state dignitaries from coming to the inauguration on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Montenegro’s ties with neighbouring Serbia and the Serbian Orthodox Church, which is the nation’s dominant religious institution, remain deeply polarising topics in the country. Around 30% of Montenegro’s 620,000 people consider themselves Serb.

Thousands protested last month in Cetinje, demanding that the inauguration be held somewhere else. The church has refused to change its plans.

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Since Montenegro split from Serbia, pro-independence Montenegrins have advocated for a recognized Orthodox Christian church that is separate from the Serbian one.

Montenegrin authorities have urged calm during the weekend ceremonies, which start with the arrival Saturday evening of the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, in Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital.

Porfirije is set to attend Sunday’s inauguration of Joanikije, whose predecessor as the church’s leader in Montenegro, Amfilohije, died in October after contracting COVID-19.

Illustrating the deep ethnic divide, thousands of people waving Serbian flags gathered in front of the main Serbian Orthodox church in Podgorica on Saturday to welcome the patriarch. Many were bused to the capital from Serbia.

The Serbian Orthodox Church played a key role in demonstrations last year that helped topple a long-ruling pro-Western government in Montenegro. The new government now includes staunchly pro-Serb and pro-Russian parties.

Montenegro’s previous authorities led the country to independence from Serbia and defied Russia to join NATO in 2017. Montenegro also is seeking to become a European Union member.

(With AP inputs)