Archbishop of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro Mihailo has sent an open letter to the European Union Ambassador and the ambassadors of the Quint countries, asking a fundamental question: “Who in the European Union changed its policy so that deadlines and membership are placed above European values?” We publish the letter in full below.

Your Excellencies,

The Montenegrin people and the faithful of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church feel betrayed by the European Union’s response to what is happening in Montenegro. For years, we were told that we must first build a state in which citizens enjoy equal rights, and only then become a member of the European Union. Today, the focus is above all on deadlines and the closing of negotiating chapters. Who in the European Union decided that the speed of enlargement should matter more than freedom of religion, equality before the law, and respect for the identity of the people living in this country?

Historical revisionism and the downplaying of war crimes carry no political cost. Open challenges to Montenegrin national identity and the unequal treatment of our Church do not prevent those currently in power who are responsible for such policies from being accepted as European partners. To us, this is not a path to Europe, but a reward for abandoning its values.

In the appeal we sent to the embassies in July 2025, we set out concrete examples of the unequal position of the Montenegrin Orthodox Church. Our requests for land and for the construction of places of worship remain without an effective response; an earlier opportunity to obtain a plot for a church was blocked by a decision of the state authorities. No agreement has yet been concluded to regulate relations between the state and our Church. We ask that public funds and property be made available to religious communities under equal and clear criteria. We see no such equality today.

The European Commission’s 2025 Montenegro Report states that freedom of religion is broadly respected. We ask: did that assessment take account of our submissions, the decisions concerning land, unanswered requests, and the longstanding refusal to regulate relations with us as with other religious communities? If not, how can that assessment be complete?

In its 2025 resolution on Montenegro, the European Parliament warned against political revisionism and condemned the glorification of war criminals. This makes it even harder for us to understand the silence toward those who deny Montenegrin identity and downplay crimes, while receiving political recognition through the European integration process. The European Union cannot condemn such policies on the one hand while opening the door to partnership with them on the other, without clear conditions.

For this reason, among Montenegrins, not only enthusiasm but also open support for membership is waning. What assurance can membership offer us if we enter the Union without equal religious rights, without protection against discrimination, and without an answer to the denial of our identity? The promise that these issues will be resolved after accession no longer inspires confidence.

We call on the European Commission, the Delegation of the European Union, and the embassies of the Quint countries to state publicly whether equality among religious communities, protection of Montenegrin identity, and opposition to historical revisionism are genuine conditions on Montenegro’s path to Europe. We ask that our documented claims be examined under Chapter 23, that the competent authorities explain their treatment of our Church, and that you receive us for a meeting. We need a clear answer, not another statement of support in principle for European values.

The Europe in which we placed our trust begins with the rights of every person. If those rights can wait when it comes to us, you are asking us to believe in membership under which we would remain second-class citizens.

Cetinje, 29 September 2026

Archbishop of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro
Mihailo