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DPM Pažin: We have called for dialogue on continuous basis, we are ready for dialogue now and after adoption of law

Published on: Dec 23, 2019 7:30 PM Author: PR Service
Podgorica, Montenegro (23 December 2019) -- Deputy Prime Minister Zoran Pažin said today that the Government has called continuously on the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro to take part in a dialogue, and that the Government is still ready for dialogue and that it will be ready for dialogue after the adoption of the law.

"The last time we met in the Metropolitanate, we already had drafted text of the law, we already had the opinion of the Venice Commission. Your stance was that, even though we had reached the stage of enactment, we should return to the beginning. Your stance was that you did not want to talk about meeting the recommendations of the Venice Commission unless we first discussed the law on the restitution of church property, or at least discussed it at the same time. … But we thought it would be a step back in passing the law," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Zoran Pažin said at a session of the Assembly Committee on Human Rights and Freedoms regarding the Draft Law on Freedom of Religion and Belief and Legal Status of Religious Communities.

He added that he had read very carefully the 92 pages of the complaint submitted by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral and that only a small, minor part of the comments related to the recommendations of the Venice Commission and that the comments related to the recommendations of the Venice Commission were included in the text of the amended Draft Law.

"Our intention was to discuss each recommendation of the Venice Commission individually, one by one. We set aside enough time for this, we were ready to discuss it for a few days. However, your stance was very clear. Ours was to respect your stance. It was mine obligation to inform the Government. After that I contacted the Metropolitanate again, and asked to sit down again to discuss meeting the recommendations of the Venice Commission... Therefore, after all, I again offered the dialogue and again received the same response. That is all we could do to have a high-quality dialogue. And to be quite clear: We're not running away from dialogue even now. After the adoption of the law, irrespective of the content, and the content of the law depends on the MPs who will discuss the proposed text of the law, it will be necessary to discuss it. It is the open and continuous dialogue that the Venice Commission also mentions. We are ready for this dialogue," DPM Pažin said.



PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO
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