LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The constitution guarantees freedom of belief and religion as well as the right to change one’s religion. It states everyone shall have the freedom to worship and practice religion individually or with others, in private or in public, and no one shall be obliged to declare one’s religion. The constitution states the freedom to express one’s religion or beliefs may be restricted by law only as necessary to protect life or health, the morals of democratic society, other freedoms and rights guaranteed by the constitution, and public safety and order, or to prevent incitement of religious, national, or racial hatred. The constitution forbids the establishment of a state religion, guarantees equality for religious groups, and mandates the separation of religion and state. It states that churches and religious communities shall be free to organize their internal structure, perform religious rites in public, and establish and manage religious schools and social and charity institutions in accordance with the law. The constitution prohibits religious discrimination or incitement of religious hatred, calls upon the government to promote religious diversity and tolerance, and states religious refugees have a right to asylum, the procedures for which shall be established in law.

The law bans incitement of discrimination, hatred, or violence against an individual or group on religious grounds and carries penalties ranging from one to 10 years in prison, depending on the type of offense. The constitution allows any court with legal jurisdiction to prevent the dissemination of information advocating religious hatred, discrimination, hostility, or violence. The law bans hate speech, stating, “Ideas, opinions, and information published in media must not incite discrimination, hatred, or violence against individuals or groups based on their (non) belonging to a certain faith regardless of whether their publishing constituted criminal offense.”

The law grants special treatment to seven religious groups the government defines as “traditional.” These are the SOC, Roman Catholic Church, Slovak Evangelical Church, Reformed Christian Church, Evangelical Christian Church, Jewish community, and Islamic community. The Islamic community is divided between the Islamic Community of Serbia, with its seat in Belgrade, and the Islamic Community in Serbia, with its seat in the city of Novi Pazar, in the southwest Sandzak region. Both Islamic communities are registered with the government and may conduct most normal business, such as receiving financial assistance from the government, receiving health-care and pension benefits for clergy, maintaining tax-exempt status, holding bank accounts, owning property, and employing staff. Neither group, however, has absolute authority over matters regarding the entire Islamic community. Under the law, “church” is a term reserved for Christian religious groups, while the term “religious community” refers to non-Christian groups and to some Christian entities.

The seven traditional religious groups recognized by law are automatically included in the Register of Churches and Religious Communities. In addition to these groups, the government grants traditional status, solely in Vojvodina Province, to the Diocese of Dacia Felix of the Romanian Orthodox Church, which has its seat in Romania and an administrative seat in the city of Vrsac, in Vojvodina.

The law also grants the seven traditional religious groups, but not other registered religious groups, the right to receive value-added tax refunds on all purchases enumerated under law and to provide chaplain services to military personnel.

To obtain registration, a religious group must submit the names, identity numbers, copies of notarized identity documents, and signatures of at least 100 citizen members; its statutes and a summary of its religious teachings, ceremonies, religious goals, and basic activities; and information on its sources of funding. The law prohibits registration if an applicant group’s name includes part of the name of an existing registered group. The Ministry of Justice maintains the Register of Churches and Religious Communities and responds to registration applications. If the Ministry of Justice rejects a registration application, the religious group may appeal the decision in court.

There are 26 “nontraditional” religious groups registered with the government, the same number as in 2022, including Christian groups, Buddhists, and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Several of these organizations are umbrella groups that oversee many individual churches, sometimes of slightly differing affiliations.

The law does not require religious groups to register, but it treats unregistered religious organizations as informal groups that do not receive any of the legal benefits afforded registered religious groups. Only registered religious groups may build new places of worship, own property, apply for property restitution, or receive state funding for their activities. Registration is also required to open bank accounts and hire staff. Registered clerics of registered groups are entitled to government support for social and health insurance and a retirement plan. According to government sources, approximately 2,400 persons from 19 registered churches or religious communities used these benefits, which account for approximately 30 percent of the budget of the Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities of the Ministry of Justice. The law also exempts registered groups from property and administrative taxes and from filing annual financial reports.

According to the constitution, the Constitutional Court may ban a religious community for activities infringing on the right to life or health, the rights of the child, the right to personal and family integrity, public safety, and public order, or if it incites religious, national, or racial intolerance. The constitution also states the Constitutional Court may ban associations that incite religious hatred.

The Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities manages all matters pertaining to the cooperation of the state with churches and religious communities. These include assistance to national minorities in protecting the religious traditions integral to their cultural and ethnic identity, cooperation between the state and SOC dioceses abroad, support for religious education, and support for and protection of the legal standing of churches and religious communities. The Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue is tasked with combating misperception and hate, including against religious communities, through organizing roundtables, discussions, and other forms of dialogue, public messaging, and assessing related legislation.

The constitution states parents and legal guardians shall have the right to ensure the religious education of their children in conformity with their own convictions. The law provides for religious education in public schools, and students in primary and secondary schools must attend either religious or secular civic education class. Parents choose which option is appropriate for their child. Religious education is available only for members of the seven traditional churches/religious communities. Smaller “nontraditional” religions are generally not covered in school curriculums. All children are required to complete secular primary school. Parents may request to homeschool their children and may do so if their school administration approves the request. Parents can further educate their children in religious schools, at home, or within churches and religious communities in addition to their secular primary school education. Students can attend religious schools for secondary school and beyond without restriction. The curriculum taught in the religion classes varies regionally, reflecting the number of adherents of a given religion in a specific community. The Ministry of Education (MOE) requires a minimum of 15 students for a school to offer any elective course, including religion classes. The ministry can approve a group with smaller numbers of students at the request of the relevant school administration. The ministry typically approves these requests, although it requires the class be composed of at least five students. When individual schools do not meet the above minimum number, the ministry attempts to combine students into regional classes for religious instruction. According to the ministry, 477,985 students in elementary and high schools attended religious education classes during the 2023-24 school year. There were approximately 1,800 religious teachers in the education system.

The Commission for Religious Education approves religious education programs, textbooks, and other teaching materials and appoints religious education instructors from lists of qualified candidates supplied by each religious group. The commission comprises representatives from each traditional religious group, the Ministry of Justice’s Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technological Development. The Minister of Education approves the list of religious teachers recommended by their respective religious community, while religious communities decide in which specific schools the approved teachers will work.

The constitution recognizes the right of conscientious objection based on religious beliefs. It states no person shall be obliged to perform military or any other service involving the use of weapons if this is inconsistent with his or her religion or beliefs, but a conscientious objector may be called upon to fulfill military duty not involving carrying weapons. By law, all men must register for military service when they turn 18, but there is no mandatory military service.

The law does not require medical workers to participate in medical procedures inconsistent with their religious beliefs. If medical workers wish to be exempt from performing a medical service due to their religious beliefs or conscience, they must officially note their conscientious objection, which is included in the patient’s medical documentation, and inform the immediate manager, director of the health institution, manager of another legal entity, or the founder of a private practice, regarding the conscientious objection. The health-care institution is required to respect the conscientious objection while still ensuring the provision of health care to the patient by another health worker. Medical workers cannot refuse to provide emergency medical care citing a conscientious objection.

The law regulates restitution claims for religious property and endowments confiscated in 1945 or later, but only for registered religious groups. The law permits individual claims for properties stolen from Holocaust victims, but religious groups may not claim property confiscated prior to 1945. In accordance with the 2009 Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets and Related Issues, the law provides for the restitution of heirless and unclaimed Jewish property seized during the Holocaust, allowing the Jewish community to file restitution claims based on these seizures, while still permitting future claimants to come forward. The law defines heirless property as any property not the subject of a legitimate claim for restitution. This law governs personal property stolen from members of the Jewish community during the Holocaust, primarily consisting of nonreligious residential and business property and agricultural land. The Jewish community must prove the former owner of the property was a member of the community and that the property was confiscated during the Holocaust. The law also stipulates financial support from the state budget for the Jewish community of €950,000 ($1 million) per year for a 25-year period, which began in 2017. The law requires the appointment of a supervisory board with representatives from the country’s Jewish community, the World Jewish Restitution Organization, and a government-appointed chairperson to oversee implementation of the restitution law’s provisions.

The country is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

GOVERNMENT PRACTICES

Abuses Involving Discrimination or Unequal Treatment

In June, the government granted 472 million dinars ($4.4 million) to the SOC for completion of the Temple of St. Sava in Belgrade. On September 14, the government granted a further 531 million dinars ($5 million) to the SOC for construction of the Temple of St. Sava in Belgrade, and to the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Timisoara (Romania), the Diocese of Buda in Szentadre (Hungary), and Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western Europe in Paris (France). Representatives of some churches and religious communities and civil society said the funding was an example of the government’s preferential treatment of the SOC.

The country’s military did not provide chaplains or chaplain services for members of nontraditional or unregistered religious groups.

Muslim leaders said selecting religious instructors for public school courses on religion remained difficult because neither of the two Islamic organizations had authority over matters regarding the entire Muslim community, resulting in protracted selection processes in some instances. Both organizations had religious teachers on the MOE-approved list for the 2022-23 school year. According to both Islamic organizations, the appointment of religious teachers in schools throughout the southern Sandzak region continued to depend on local school directors, who selected instructors from the MOE-approved list. Leadership disputes that arose in late 2022 within the Islamic Community of Serbia further complicated this process.

There were instances of government officials using terms widely considered to be slurs to describe ethnic Albanians, who are overwhelmingly Muslim. For example, in an op-ed in the daily tabloid newspaper Kurir on August 28, ruling Serbian Progressive Party Member of Parliament Vladimir Djukanovic used such terminology. Tabloids such as Informer, Srpski Telegraf, and Alo! also frequently used such terminology to describe ethnic Albanians. Competent regulatory bodies charged with ensuring media outlets do not violate the country’s laws against hate speech, inciting ethnic/religious hatred, or discrimination failed to respond adequately or consistently to these media outlets’ use of such terminology.

Other Developments Affecting Religious Freedom

The two Islamic organizations remained divided since their separation in 2007. In January 2021, the Islamic Community of Serbia, which has its seat in Belgrade and was registered in 2006, filed a lawsuit against the government before the European Court of Human Rights for its 2007 decision to register the separate Islamic Community in Serbia, with its seat in Novi Pazar. This lawsuit remained in progress at year’s end. The Islamic Community of Serbia stated the Islamic Community in Serbia’s name was too closely linked to its own and therefore, per its interpretation of the law, should not have been registered. In late 2022, a leadership dispute emerged within the Islamic Community of Serbia between Sandzak-based leaders on one side and Belgrade-based leaders on the other. The origin of the conflict was not clear, but both parties claimed that the other had exercised authority contrary to regulations and the decisions of the community’s bodies and institutions.

The Ministry of Justice stated it was unable to proceed with registering Aleksandar Albahari as the legal representative of the Federation of Jewish Communities because of a pending legal case pertaining to the 2018 election of Igor Ginzberg as the federation’s president. Continued disagreements within the Jewish community regarding the legal leader of the federation hampered implementation of the Holocaust-era Heirless and Unclaimed Property Law, and the federation failed to make its legally obligated annual payments to the country’s Holocaust survivors. In December, the federation voted to appoint a working body to manage its affairs for a one-year period, temporarily resolving the impasse that had disrupted the federation’s operations.

In accordance with the Holocaust-era Heirless and Unclaimed Property Law, the government continued to return to the Jewish community heirless and unclaimed properties seized during World War II. The Restitution Agency reported that 786 of 1,671 claims filed by the February 2019 deadline had been resolved. During the year, the agency reported that under those claims, it returned more than 147 hectares (10,247 acres), 37 ares (.9 acres), and 61 square meters (656 square feet) of agricultural land; and eight properties totaling 259 square meters (2,787 square feet). Since implementation of the law began, the government said it had restituted 14,156 square meters (152,374 square feet) in properties; 3,293 hectares (724 acres), 49 ares (1 acre), and 72 square meters (775 square feet) of agricultural land; and 19 ares (.4 acre) and 55 square meters (592 square feet) of undeveloped land to Jewish communities in the country. The agency estimated the overall value of the property and land returned under the law was more than €41,090,000 million ($45.2 million). By law, Jewish communities were responsible for transferring property to individual heirs.

The government continued restitution of religious properties confiscated in 1945 or later under the Law on the Restitution of Property to Churches and Religious Communities. During the year, it returned 186 hectares (459 acres), 67 ares (1.6 acres), and 31 square meters (333 square feet) of land, of which 183 hectares (452 acres), 71 ares (1.7 acres), and 93 square meters (1,001 square feet) were agricultural; two hectares (4.9 acres), 57 ares (1.4 acres), and 77 square meters (828 square feet) of forests and forest land; 37 ares (.9 acres) and 61 square meters (656 square feet) of construction land; and 1,135 square meters (1,453 square feet) in various objects and buildings. The government either returned the properties themselves or substituted other property of equivalent value to groups that included the SOC and the Roman Catholic Church.

Since implementation of the Law on Religious Restitution began in 2006, the government estimated that as of year’s end, it had resolved 88.3 percent of all claims pertaining to land – including agricultural, forest, and construction land – 41.94 percent of all claims pertaining to buildings, as well as two claims for the restitution of artwork and a claim for the restitution of 100,000 bricks.

In July, the government appointed a new Commission for Religious Education for a six-year term; members were nominated by religious communities, the Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities, and the Ministry of Education. Members of the commission from religious communities provided their lists of religious teachers, and these were approved. The commission had not previously met since 2019.

The Ministry of Justice’s Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities’ budget remained generally divided among four lines of activities: 40 percent for religious officials, including contributions for health insurance and pensions; 25 percent to high school and university theological education; 20 percent to reconstruction and construction of religious objects; and 10 percent to activities that aim to promote religious culture. The directorate supported reconstruction, restoration, and construction work on various groups’ religious sites, including the renovation of the Roman Catholic Krista Kralja parish hall and the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belgrade, the headquarters of the Diocese of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Vrsac, the Calap Verdi Mosque in Novi Pazar, the headquarters and Mosque of the Islamic Community in Serbia in Novi Paza, the headquarters of the Islamic Community of Serbia in Belgrade, and the Slovak Evangelical Church in Kulpun. The directorate also supported renovations at several Serbian Orthodox Church buildings, including the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Valjevo, the Bagdala Temple in Krusevac, and the pilgrimage center in Soko Grad.

The directorate continued to provide stipends for high school and university students studying religion and increased both the number and total value of scholarships awarded to students to the highest levels in the institution’s history.

The government did not explicitly provide support for travel for religious reasons, such as Hajj and Umrah travel for Muslims and government-sponsored travel to Rome or the Middle East for Christians. The funds the Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities allocated to religious communities, however, could be used for such purposes.

The national television service, Radio Television of Serbia, continued to broadcast a daily, 10-minute Religious Calendar program regarding the teachings, history, and spiritual and material heritage of the major monotheistic religions.

The government continued to develop a Holocaust memorial center at Staro Sajmiste, the site of a World War II-era German-run concentration camp in Belgrade. Plans called for the center to incorporate the site of another former concentration camp in Belgrade, Topovske Supe. In June, the German Pavillion of Staro Sajmiste was demolished to make way for the construction of a new road, despite some organizations claiming the site had been a part of the Staro Sajmiste concentration camp during World War II and remains of victims might be buried there. The pavilion was not included in the physical area designated as the Staro Sajmiste Memorial as it was not considered by the government to have been part of the camp or to have housed its inmates. Thus, it was not legally protected by the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Monuments. The Ministry of Culture said that construction would not be halted, but that if any remains were found during excavation the work would be halted until the site was examined by archaeologists.

In April, the mayor of Novi Sad established a Council for Prevention of Antisemitism to institutionalize prevention, monitoring, and analysis of acts that could qualify as antisemitic. The council acted as an expert and advisory body to the mayor.