Pristina, December 9, 2022
Religious freedom takes a special place in a free and open society such as the Republic of Kosovo, said the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, at the opening of the public hearing on the Draft Law on Religious Freedoms.
In this meeting, invited by the Office of the Prime Minister, were present Mr. Glauk Konjufca, Chairman of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Jeffrey M. Hovenier, Ambassador of the United States of America, leaders and representatives of religious communities, representatives of local and international institutions and organizations.
The Basic Law on Religious Freedom, which is currently in force, was approved more than 15 years ago, on August 24, 2006, i.e. almost a year and a half before the declaration of independence and two years before the entry into force of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, said Prime Minister Kurti.
In his introductory speech, the Prime Minister singled out one of the goals of the Draft Law that will be discussed today, which is to update the legal framework for religious freedom, to increase its compatibility with human rights and basic freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution. Accordingly, Article 38 of the Constitution states that “Freedom of belief, conscience and religion is guaranteed”. And “Freedom of belief, conscience and religion includes the right to accept and manifest religion, the right to manifest personal beliefs and the right to accept or refuse to be a member of a religious community or group”.
The Prime Minister emphasized that different thoughts and beliefs are constantly entering and circulating freely among our citizens all the time. In such an open and free country, with constant circulation of thought from within and out, it is impossible for all individuals to share the same religious beliefs. On the contrary, the diversity of religious beliefs among the population is inevitable. Pluralism of faith, as many political philosophers have observed, is a permanent and immutable fact of a democratic society. One of the most important goals of the Draft Law, which will be discussed today, is precisely the goal to preserve and promote this religious pluralism, emphasized Prime Minister Kurti.
He said that the changes proposed with this draft law prove that our Government takes seriously the obligation not only to guarantee full respect for religious freedom, but also to ensure that this freedom is equally guaranteed for all citizens without distinction.
The complete speech of Prime Minister Kurti:
Dear Chairman of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Glaucus Conjufca,
Dear Ambassador of the United States of America, Mr. Jeffrey M. Hovenier,
Dear leaders and representatives of religious communities,
Dear officials of institutions, local and international organizations,
Dear participants,
Ladies and gentleman,
Good morning and welcome to the public discussion of the Draft Law on amending and supplementing Law No. 02/L-31 on Religious Freedoms in Kosovo. The Basic Law on Religious Freedom, which is currently in force, was approved more than 15 years ago, on August 24, 2006, i.e. almost a year and a half before the declaration of independence and two years before the entry into force of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo.
One of the goals of the Draft Law that will be discussed today is to update the legal framework for religious freedom, to increase its compatibility with human rights and basic freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution. Accordingly, Article 38 of the Constitution states that “Freedom of belief, conscience and religion is guaranteed”. And, “Freedom of belief, conscience and religion includes the right to accept and manifest religion, the right to manifest personal beliefs and the right to accept or refuse to be a member of a religious community or group” .
Likewise, the European Convention on Human Rights, which is directly applicable in the Republic of Kosovo, states that, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right means the freedom to change religion or faith and freedom, whether individually or collectively, publicly or privately through worship, teaching, practices and performance of rites”.
It is worth noting that, even before the draft law in question was approved, the Republic of Kosovo already stands quite well in terms of respecting religious freedom. As it was announced two months ago, Kosovo is ranked first in the region for the rule of law and second in the world for the greatest improvement in the rule of law in 2022, according to the “World Justice Project”. And, one of the categories in which Kosovo has scored the best performance in 2022, is the category of “effective guarantee of freedom of thought and religion”.
However, as in all areas, in this area as well, our Government aims to achieve the highest possible standard of human rights protection. Religious freedom takes a special place in a free and open society such as the Republic of Kosovo. This is for two reasons. First, in such a society, each individual gets to enjoy freedom of speech and assembly, as well as the right to express and exchange different opinions. And secondly, an open society like Kosovo welcomes within its borders citizens from every corner of the world, both as short-term visitors and as long-term residents.
This means that different thoughts and beliefs are constantly entering and circulating freely among our citizens all the time. In such an open and free country, with constant circulation of thought from within and out, it is impossible for all individuals to share the same religious beliefs. On the contrary, the diversity of religious beliefs among the population is inevitable. Pluralism of faith, as many political philosophers have observed, is a permanent and immutable fact of a democratic society.
One of the most important goals of the Draft Law, which will be discussed today, is precisely the goal of preserving and promoting this religious pluralism. The draft law in question will offer as many different religious communities as possible the opportunity to register officially. In this way, even those communities that are relatively small and new in Kosovo, will benefit from full and equal rights to those that are larger and have a longer history among our population. The changes proposed with this draft law, therefore, prove that our Government takes seriously the obligation not only to guarantee full respect for religious freedom, but also to ensure that this freedom is equally guaranteed for all citizens without difference.
Welcome once again and I wish you a fruitful discussion of this very important draft law.
Last modified: December 9, 2022