[7][8] In May 2019, the Venice Commission positively evaluated the proposed draft of the Law on Freedom of Religion, but recognized the articles 62 and 63, related to the church property, as substantive issues and one of the most controversial points.

Hundreds of SOC priests and monks, headed by metropolitan Amfilohije Radović, protested in front of parliament before the committee session demanding the bill's withdrawal.

[13] Ahead of a vote on the draft Law on Religious Freedoms, expected later on Thursday or on Friday of the same week, Serbian Orthodox clergy and believers held a service on a packed bridge near parliament, watched by police who had sealed off city center roads and approaches to the government building.

[4] On 27 December 2019, the bill was approved by 45 ruling coalition lawmakers, sparking a series of massive protests and road blockages[14][15] which continued to February 2020.

[21] Demonstrations continued into January, February and March 2020 as peaceful protest walks, mostly organised by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church in most of Montenegrin municipalities.

Protestors labeled the government's move as political, to stem protests against the enactment of a religion law, during the August 2020 parliamentary election campaign in the country.

[32] Montenegrin government and ruling Democratic Party of Socialists officials, including president Milo Đukanović and members of the current Cabinet of Montenegro blamed the Belgrade-based media and Government of Serbia for the current political crisis, destabilization and unrest across the country, claiming that the ongoing Church protests actually are not against the disputed law but against Montenegrin statehood and independence.

Although the event was announced, the embassy was allegedly left unguarded by the Serbian police, with only undercover security units present, which sparked criticism from Montenegro.

[39] Peaceful protest against the controversial Religious Law took place in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, and a number of other cities and towns in Serbia.

[50] On 29 February 2020 a senior Russian-backed bishop in Ukraine Onufriy (Berezovsky) participated and led a prayer walk and protest rally in Podgorica, reflecting tense relations between the Montenegrin government and Russia.

[51] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has publicly denied all of the allegations of the Montenegrin government on the involvement of the Russian Federation in events and ongoing crisis in Montenegro.

[53] The report mentioned that the government and analysts said there was an apparently coordinated campaign of disinformation, propaganda, and provocation, "seeking to fan ethnonationalistic divisions and provoke conflict through the protests.

The decision not to extend the position of the European Union Special Envoy, whose mandate included the promotion of freedom of religion and belief, is marked as particularly unjustified.

[55][56] Freedom House, the US-based non-governmental organization that measures the degree of civil liberties and political rights in the world, described that the religion law is widely seen to target the Serbian Orthodox Church and that its adoption as one of the "questionable decisions".