Balkan Religious Minorities Still Feel Excluded, US Says

Despite progress in terms of legislation safeguarding equal rights for all religious minorities, most Balkan states still discriminate against some groups and lag behind in returning property confiscated by communist regimes, the US State Department said in its 2016 report on Religious Freedom, released on Tuesday.

The report says some religious minorities, such as Protestant groups and also Muslims, report harassment and hardship in obtaining authorization to build new churches, mosques or burial sites. In some Balkan countries, rivalry between different Orthodox churches also leads to incidents.

In Albania, the report urges officials to accelerate the handling of long-standing religious property claims and to return buildings, land, and other assets confiscated during the communist era.

In Bosnia, the report notes a fall in the number of attacks on religious officials and sites during the year compared to the previous two years. It notes continued conflicts between members of the official Islamic Community and minority Muslim groups, some of them Shia, who practise outside the Islamic Community's scope. The report also stresses that minority religious groups remain unable to obtain government positions or seats in parliament.

In Bulgaria, the report highlights that minority religious groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and Muslims reported incidents of harassment and hostile rhetoric by members of some political parties. They also said the government failed to prosecute religiously motivated attacks against their members.

The document also points out that schools have banned the wearing of religious symbols, including the...