Proposed Religious Law in Serbia Still Lacking in Full Protection for Minority Religions

(Forum 18) – The latest, fourth, draft of a proposed religion law is an “improvement,” Baptist leaders have told Forum 18 News Service. However, religious minorities are worried that the latest draft, like previous drafts, divides religious communities into “traditional” faiths and other faiths with lesser rights. Baptist Pastor Dane Vidovic told Forum 18 that this division “is critical, because it will affect other laws and areas of life, including rights to religious education in public schools, taxes and property, social security and pension funds.” Religion Minister Milan Radovic has recently wrongly claimed that Serbia is the “only country in Europe without a law regulating relations between the state and religious communities”, claiming that this is a “dangerous legal void”. Some European countries, such as Ireland , have never had a religion law and have no plans to introduce such a law.