Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
The Republic of Kosovo is, according to the country's constitution, “a secular state and is neutral in matters of religious belief” (Article 8). It is worth noting that the original text of the constitution refers to the secular model, shtet laikw, based on French and Turkish texts. The constitution also protects and guarantees freedom of religion. Article 9 of the constitution states that the republic “ensures the preservation and protection of its cultural and religious heritage”. Article 24 guarantees the equality of all and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion. Article 38 guarantees freedom of belief, conscience, and religion. That “includes the right to accept and manifest religion, the right to express personal beliefs and the right to accept or refuse membership in a religious community or group”. Article 39 enshrines the protection of “religious autonomy and religious monuments within its territory. Religious denominations are free to independently regulate their internal organisation, religious activities, and religious ceremonies. Religious denominations have the right to establish religious schools and charity institutions following this Constitution and the Law”.
The fundamental Law on Freedom of Religion in Kosovo came into force on 1 April 2007. Interestingly, the legislation was not prepared by Kosovo authorities but by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), two years before the country’s declaration of independence. The Law only makes provisions for the most fundamental issues and recognises five religious communities: the Islamic Community of Kosovo, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, the Hebrew Belief Community, and the Evangelist Church (Article 5, 4). The Law has been heavily criticised by both religious communities and international organisations. The lack of clear regulations on registration and financing, as well as on the construction of religious sites and the maintenance of graveyards, are of significant concern to religious communities. Despite many attempts to amend the Law (starting in 2011) and comments from the Venice Commission, no solutions have been adopted so far. The Council of Europe's Venice Commission published its views on amending the Law on Freedom of Religion, outlining the need for several improvements. These include expanding the list of religious communities that “constitute the historical, cultural and social heritage of the country” from five groups to include all other established religious communities.
The latest proposal suggests including a sixth religious community – the Tarikate Community of Kosovo (Article 4A), as well as the possibility of forming new religious communities with at least 50 adult citizens of Kosovo (7B).
According to its most recent census, the findings of which were published in 2011, 95.6% of the population of Kosovo identify as Muslim, 2.2% as Catholic, 1.4% as Serbian Orthodox, with other religions or beliefs making up less than 1% of the population. The census has been heavily criticised, with allegations that it undercounted the number of Serbian Orthodox because many Serbs boycotted the census. Ethnic Serbians, Croats and Montenegrins in Kosovo tend to be Christian. The majority of other ethnic minorities within Kosovo overwhelmingly identify as Muslim.
Incidents and developments
The tiny community of Catholics in Kosovo, estimated at 60,000, is mostly concentrated in Gjakova, Prizren, Klina, Janjevo and a few villages near Peć and Vitina. There is great pride that Mother Teresa, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was an ethnic Albanian. The main boulevard in Pristina and the city’s Catholic cathedral are named after the nun who first understood her call to a religious vocation in the church of Letnica, in south-east Kosovo. Saint Teresa's canonisation by Pope Francis in 2016 was celebrated by Albanians throughout the Balkans.
Although more than 20 years have passed since the Kosovo conflict (1998-1999), its legacy casts a long shadow over relations between Kosovo’s ethnic and religious communities. According to a 2017 report on Kosovo by the International Commission for Missing Persons, out of the 4,500 people who disappeared during the war, the remains of more than 1,600 are still missing. Since 2009, 335 missing persons have been exhumed from suspected grave sites, with three of those being in the last year. As of April 2022, there are still 15,683 internally displaced persons in Kosovo. Meanwhile, inter-ethnic tensions between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs continue.
It is estimated that around 400 Kosovars travelled to the war zones in Syria and Iraq, which makes the small Balkan nation Europe's most significant contributor of foreign fighters to the Islamic State (IS) group in relation to the population. In April 2019, after the collapse of the self-proclaimed Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq, 110 Kosovars returned home, including 24 women who were arrested on suspicion of participating in a terrorist group.
Despite this recent history, and the potentially menacing pre-conditions for conflict, the 2022 Global Terrorist Index ranks Kosovo as having a very low terrorism risk , ranking it 88th among the 163 countries surveyed. Its overall risk rating has decreased marginally since the 2020-21 review period.
Nevertheless, the UN Security Council’s most recent report on Kosovo notes several incidents of harassment and physical violence directed against minority Serbs in the country, in particular 15 incidents affecting Serbian religious and cultural sites including damage to property and hateful graffiti. The National Police state they have received reports of 87 religiously related incidents during the relevant reporting period, compared with 57 in 2020. Many of these incidents were classified as aggravated thefts, primarily against Islamic and Serbian Orthodox religious sites or cemeteries, but also involving including one Catholic site.
On 21 July 2021, the Basic Court of Pristina found a citizen of Montenegro guilty of inciting discord and intolerance for chanting Serbian nationalist slogans at a Serbian religious gathering in Kosovo on 28 June.
The 2022 European Commission Working Report on Kosovo has criticised the Kosovo Assembly for failing to pass the law on religious freedom. Without legal recognition, religious communities have to hold bank accounts in the names of individuals instead of communities. Protestant churches have stated that they continue to be taxed as for-profit businesses.
In September 2021, the Constitutional Court notified Kosovo’s Chief Prosecutor of a lack of implementation of its 2016 decision confirming the ownership rights of the Visoki Dečani Monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church over a portion of land surrounding the Monastery. The Visoki Dečani Monastery was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004. In 2021, the Monastery was included in the list of seven most endangered heritage sites by Europe Nostra, upon nomination by Future for Religious Heritage, the European network for historic places of worship.
In August 2021, police arrested author Gjin Morena after he published a book which contained alleged hate speech against Muslims. He pleaded guilty in the Basic Court of Gjakova and paid a fine equivalent to €1640. Morena is reported to be Protestant.
In 2021, the UN Mission in Kosovo launched a pilot initiative to monitor incitement to hatred and hate speech on social and online media.
Kosovo is the only European democracy not yet a member of the Council of Europe, and therefore not subject to the supervisory authority of the European Court of Human Rights.
Prospects for freedom of religion
The promotion and protection of all human rights in Kosovo is fragile. Religious freedom exists in a country where many ethnic and religious communities have lived together for centuries under considerable tensions. Friction relating to the Kosovo conflict remains unresolved and only seems to heighten as more displaced persons return to their communities. As inter-religious conflict is often tied to ethnicity in Kosovo - ever present because of recent historical wrongs - the prospect of religious harmony remains tenuous. Nevertheless, should the government take active steps to pass the law on religious freedom, and return property related to the Visoki Dečani Monastery to the Serbian Orthodox Church, these may lend greater impetus to improving religious freedom in the country.
Kosovo