Serbia Protestant Minorities Note Improvements in Latest Draft Law
Although the latest draft of a proposed draft law is an ''improvement,'' religious minorities are worried that the latest draft divides religious communities into ''traditional'' faiths and other faiths with lesser rights.
Baptist leaders in Serbia say the latest draft of a proposed religion law is an "improvement," according to a Norway-based persecution watchdog group. However, religious minorities are worried that the latest draft, like previous three drafts, divides religious communities into "traditional" faiths and other faiths with lesser rights.
"This division is discriminatory," Pastor Dane Vidovic of the First Baptist Church in Belgrade told Forum 18, which monitors religious persecution in Communist and former Soviet states. "And it 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 pensions."
Also widely criticized is the high threshold of adult members needed to register a new religious organization, which currently stands at 700. Although earlier laws required churches to have 1,000 adult members to gain legal status, many believe the 700 now demanded is still too high, and that the demands on those forming the 700 are unwarranted.
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According to Forum 18, a delegation of the Conference of European Churches (CEC) met Serbia’s religion minister Milan Radulovic during a February visit to Serbia and Kosovo. "The major item in the discussion was the proposed new Religious Law for Serbia, especially as this would affect the Methodist Church, which is not recognized as a 'traditional church' in the present draft, and also such groups as the Baptists," a Feb. 16 CEC statement declared.
Although the Baptist churches and several other minority Protestant churches, as well as the Roman and Greek Catholic churches, have described the fourth draft of the law as a "great improvement" on previous drafts, the text has received many critical comments from domestic and international non-governmental organizations and religious groups. As a result, Serbia’s religion ministry is attempting to finalize the text, Forum 18 reported. The ministry is convening a roundtable discussion of the draft with religious organizations and legal specialists, as well as representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe.
Vidovic, who is also a member of the Religious Freedom Committee of the Baptist World Alliance, agreed that the latest version has "significant improvements" over earlier versions and believes the terminology is better. But he hoped the privileges granted to some religious groups over others would be ended.
The first draft of the religion law, made public in July 2004, sparked widespread public response and criticism from smaller religious communities.
Since 1993, Serbia has not had a law on religious communities and attempts to draft a new law have been controversial. For the last 13 years, religious communities trying to gain legal status in Serbia have had to register as citizens' associations.
Currently, the seven religious organizations recognized as "traditional" are the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Islamic Faith Community, the Jewish Religious Community, the Slovak Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church of Serbia, and the Hungarian Reformed Church.
Other religious communities such as the Baptists and Methodists are not considered "traditional" or "historical".
