On September 5, amid protests by Montenegrins and clashes with law enforcement, the inauguration of the hierarch of the Serbian Church, Joanikije II, as Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral took place. The operation to secure the enthronement of Metropolitan of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Cetinje was led by Milos Rakonjak, and Montenegrin Police Assistant Chief, and Petar Knezevic, Acting Commander of the Montenegrin Police Anti-Terrorist Unit (Protivterorističke jedinice, PTJ).
It should be recalled that Joanikije II and Serbian Patriarch Porfirio only managed to get from Podgorica to the Cetinje Monastery, where the enthronement ceremony took place, on a military helicopter and under a heavy guard, due to angry protesters blocking the roads in the area.
According to Serbian media, until 5 am on September 5, the day of the enthronement, Rakonjak and Knezevic had been planning an operation in the Montenegrin government building. The mission was prepared and carried out in strict secrecy, as most of the police were not even aware of it.
According to Serbian media, Rakonjak and Knezevic are former fighters of the Yugoslav army, participants in the battle for Kosare.
The Battle of Kosare was fought during the Kosovo war between the Army of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), with the support of the Albanian Army. Hostilities lasted at the border from April 9 to June 10, 1999, during a NATO air strikes against the FRY (which then included Serbia and Montenegro).
Petar Knezevic is considered the hero of that battle. He also starred as himself in Serbian movies about the events of 1999.
It should be recalled that Montenegro has been a NATO Ally since 2017.
Earlier, the Montenegrin president called the enthronement “forcible.”
