Montenegro Accused of Threatening Religious Freedom

The European Platform on Religious Intolerance and Discrimination, EPRID, has sharply criticised the proposed new law, saying that it would "seriously violate rights of religious freedom and autonomy for churches and religious communities and unfairly discriminate against them".

It raised its concerns in a joint letter signed by Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe, Association Internationale pour la Défense de la Liberté Religieuse, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, the Conference of European Churches, the European Evangelical Alliance, Global Human Rights Defence, Human Rights Without Frontiers, Open Doors International and the International Buddhist Information Bureau.

"We firmly believe that the current Draft Law on Freedom of Religion in Montenegro does not comply with European and international standards on human rights and freedom of religion or belief," the letter said. 

The government proposed the law last July, explaining that the intention was to regulate religious freedom in accordance with EU standards. 

Under the law, all the churches and monasteries built before 1918 would become state property and part of the country's cultural heritage.

Religious communities would also have to start to pay taxes, as well as to "confidentially inform the government" prior to appointing officials.

A public debate sparked fierce protests in last September, mostly from the Serbian Orthodox believers and priests. The Serbian Orthodox Church accused the government of seeking to discriminate against "the most populous religious community in Montenegro".

The Islamic community and the Catholic Church were also unhappy about a number of proposed restrictions, and the government decided to postpone the adoption of the law to this...