(6 Jan 2020) Dozens of police were deployed in Montenegro on Monday during Orthodox Christmas Eve celebrations amid tensions over a religious rights law in the small Balkan country.
Tensions have been growing between followers of the Serbian and Montenegrin sects of the Orthodox Church, as the latter is not recognised by other churches in the region.
Members of the churches were separated by police during the ritual lighting Yule log bonfires on Orthodox Christmas Eve, which is celebrated on 6 January.
Tensions in Montenegro have soared over a religious law the Serbian church says will strip it of property, including medieval churches, monasteries and other assets.
Montenegrin state authorities have denied plans to do this.
Led by the Serbian church priests, thousands of people have attended daily protest marches against the law in Montenegro since it was approved in parliament last month.
The law says religious communities with property need to produce evidence of ownership from before 1918, when Montenegro joined a Serb-led Balkan kingdom and lost its independence.
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