Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
The 1991 Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia, amended in 2019 to reflect the name change from the Republic of Macedonia, guarantees equality to its citizens regardless of religious beliefs. Article 16 protects freedom of conscience, thought and expression, and Article 19 upholds freedom of religion, and the right to freely and publicly express one’s faith.
Encouraging or inciting religious hatred or intolerance is prohibited (Article 20) and the religious identity of communities of all nationalities is protected (Article 48). Freedom of belief, conscience, thought, and religious confession may not be restricted (Article 54). The Constitutional Court of North Macedonia protects the rights and freedoms recognised in the constitution (Article 110).
Amendment VII (1, 2) to the constitution states that the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Islamic Religious Community in Macedonia, the Catholic Church, the Evangelical Methodist Church, and the Jewish Community, as well as “other Religious communities and groups” are separate from the state and equal before the law. The amendment also provides for the establishment of religious educational institutions, social and charitable organisations.
Registered groups are: exempt from taxes, may apply for government funding, and can establish high schools. Religious groups are not permitted by law to run primary schools. To register, groups must file an application and provide information about their creation, their physical presence in the country, a description of their basic religious teachings, proof of citizenship of their founders, and information about their financial assets and funding sources. Once approved, groups are registered with the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities and Groups. The Commission classifies religious organisations into registered churches, religious communities, and religious groups. The law does not make any distinction in the legal status of these categories.
Registered churches include 18 Christian religious groups, both traditional and newly founded, and the Church of Scientology. The second category includes nine religious communities: the Islamic Community, the Jewish Community, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and six others. The third category, religious groups, includes 11 associations.
Religious secondary schools are not subject to the Ministry of Education’s certification. Their students are not permitted, however, to take the national baccalaureate exam, and are thus precluded from enrolling in universities. Sixth grade students are required to enrol in one of two elective religious courses or take an alternative course, namely Classical Culture in European Civilisation.
North Macedonians may submit complaints of religion-based discrimination, hate speech, “loudness of prayers”, or violations of the “principle of secularity” to the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities and Groups.
Identifying the difference between intolerance and discrimination based on religion and ethnicity in North Macedonia is often a difficult task. The majority of Orthodox Christians are ethnically Macedonian while Muslims tend to be ethnically Albanian. The OSCE/ODIHR Hate Crime Reporting database logged 22 hate crimes reported to police and 14 additional incidents reported by other sources based on racial and xenophobic motives. Whether religion was the main motivating factor in any of these reported incidents remains unclear.
In July 2022, North Macedonia began its first accession negotiations with the European Union.
Incidents and developments
Reports indicate that intolerance towards Muslims has decreased but occasionally manifests itself in protests against the building of mosques, women wearing the hijab in public and on social media. One such alleged social media campaign took place in May 2021 by Petar Bogojeski, leader of the Macedonian Concept political party.
On 25th February 2021, the fence of a five centuries-old mosque in Vinichani, municipality Gradsko, North Macedonia, was vandalized. The perpetrators remain at large making motive an unresolved question.
Three anti-Christians hate incidences were recorded in 2021, two involving vandalism and burglary of Orthodox properties and one being the vandalism of a Christian cemetery. The two men involved with the cemetery attack recorded their crimes and published them on social media. At least 18 incidents of theft or vandalism also occurred in Orthodox churches but were not attributed to religious motives.
Antisemitic hate speech and crimes are rare in North Macedonia, and no publicly sourced information during the relevant reporting period suggested any incidents of significance occurred.
The European Commission’s 2022 North Macedonia Report cites no areas of concern in relation to religious freedom or hate motivated incidents based on religious identity.
Inter-religious dialogue continues to be a pressure point in the country. On 18 February 2021, the Islamic Religious Community (IRC) in North Macedonia publicly condemned the government’s official registration of the Islamic Salafi Community in December 2020, saying it would be detrimental to Muslim unity. The IRC also alleged that the government continued to show favouritism to the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric (MOC-OA). The IRC, on the other hand, has been accused by the Bektashi (Tetovo) Community of harassment.
Smaller religious groups similarly complained about the five constitutionally named religious groups being treated more favourably than they were.
The Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid (OAO) alleged that their clergy and family members were often targets of media attacks and physical assaults by those considered close to the MOC-OA. In 2021, the Skopje Appellate Court upheld the judgment of a lower court denying the OAO of a registration application because it fell outside of the statutory deadline.
The Ministry of Justice and other government ministries discussed amending the 2007 law governing religion with the aim of allowing other larger religious communities to acquire the status of ‘legal entity’. However, consultation with religious groups has been postponed. In 2022, the Ministry of Justice further proposed additional criteria for registering civil society organisations.
There have been no adverse judgments nor new communicated cases against North Macedonia before the European Court of Human Rights during the relevant reporting period in the area of religious freedom.
In 2018, the First Section of the Court found a violation of the Bektashi Community’s freedom of association, read in the light of Article 9’s guarantee of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion for failings with the church registration law of 2007. On 18 May 2021, a Skopje Basic Civil Court ruled that the community had a right to resubmit its registration application. To date, it does not appear to have done so.
Prospects for freedom of religion
After several years of instability, North Macedonia has received favourable reports about its reforms from the European Union and has entered accession negotiations. The country recorded relatively few incidents of religiously motived hate crimes. There has also been a reported decrease in intolerance towards Muslims. Nevertheless, inter-religious dialogue between religious groups remains poor and concerns linger over government favouritism between competing Orthodox Archbishoprics. The prospects for religious freedom are positive.
North Macedonia