Kosovo with six religious communities

With 61 votes for, 4 against and 13 amendments, Kosovo's Assembly has in principle adopted the Bill on Change and Fulfilling the Law on Religious Freedom in Kosovo. For compliance with the amendments to this law, 15 deputies from the minority communities have voted.

Before the vote is submitted, the Assembly has held a debate over the proposed changes to the Law on Religious Freedom in Kosovo.

With the changes made to this law, from five religious communities in Kosovo, the Islamic Community of Kosovo, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Jewish Community and the Protestant Gospel Church, has also been added to a religious community, that of the Tarits of Kosovo.

Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj in presenting the religious freedom bill to MPs has said these communities also constitute the country's historical, cultural and social heritage.

He has added that the bill is drafted based on international conventions and the opinion of the Venice Commission.

Haradinaj has invited MPs to adopt this law, and has stressed that adopting this law is one of the conditions for membership in the U. NESTO.

“The need to issue this bill consists of advancing the legal framework, which regulates the judicial status of religious communities, the competent registry body responsible for the criminalisation of religious communities in Kosovo, their legal position, funds and donations”, Haradinaj has said.

During the debate, MPs said there are shortcomings in the bill that must be seriously addressed, not creating unclear situations.

Glauk Konjifca from the Vetevendosje Movement has stressed that there is no legal distinction between the traditional and historical religious communities that have been among the new ones to be created.

It is good that a law is finally coming to Kosovo that is recognising the judicial status of religious communities, but a problem that appears at the beginning of the law is that there is no legal difference in these six religious communities that have been established as traditional and historical communities, which have an extended organisation. But now with these rules on how to form these new religious communities there is no difference between traditional historical communities and those that will be created”, Conjufca said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic League of Kosovo MP liberty has demanded that some articles in this bill be clarified.

The draft law will clarify some issues that make the law applicable. We have enumerated some of them, such as the criteria for registration, to define how the commission for the registration of religious communities will be chosen, the most subtle clarification of the article regulating the way religious communities have the right to the establishment of various educational institutions. This issue is sensitive and should clearly regulate the purpose of the activities of these” institutions, Cajazi has said.

In principle, the draft law on changing and completing the Law on Religious Freedom in Kosovo has also supported the Democratic Party of Kosovo parliamentary group and other parliamentary groups coming from the communities.

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