Despite openly recognizing that the controversial new religion law approved by parliament on April 20 violates the European Convention on Human Rights, Serbian president Boris Tadic signed it into law on April 27.

He ordered parliament to amend the law “in an urgent vote” to remove the violations, though Aleksandar Mitrovic of Serbia’s Evangelical Alliance told Forum 18 News Service the president “was unable to give me a clear answer as to how he thinks he can achieve this, given his status and authority.”

Under a last-minute amendment before parliament approved the law, all but the seven recognized “traditional” faiths lose their legal status and will have to reapply, even those present in Serbia for more than a century like the Nazarenes, Baptists and Adventists. They also lose their tax-exempt status

“This law makes some citizens more equal than others,” General Secretary of the Baptist Union Zarko Djordjevic complained to Forum 18.

Minority faiths also fear they will lose the chance to regain confiscated property in the restitution bill expected to begin its parliamentary process in May.

Forum 18