Relations Between the State and Religious Communities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

The paper provides a detailed overview of the relationship between the state and religious communities in Yugoslavia. Before World War II, Yugoslavia’s population was divided among six recognized religious communities: (1) Serbian Orthodox; (2) Roman Catholic; (3) Muslim; (4) Evangelical; (5) Jewish; and (6) Greek Catholic. There was no proclamation of a state church, but the Constitution retained a link between the state and recognized religious communities by ensuring for them the status of legal corporations. After World War II, the laws regulating the relations between the state and recognized religious communities were abolished; this was the area which, despite the adoption of several laws (the last of which was the Law on the Legal Position of Religious Communities of 1977, abolished in 1992), remained legally undefined. In all socialist countries and in Yugoslavia, the educational system advanced the concept that belief in God was a terrible thing—backward and primitive. The state’s propagation of such an attitude, including the “ethical” questioning of religion as a mechanism used for manipulation in the context of the class struggle, not only radically restricted the human right to freedom of belief and conviction, but also contributed to the abuse of religious feelings at the time of the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. In the 1990s,with the abolition of these laws at the federal and republic levels because they had become obsolete, relations between the state and religious communities remained the least legally defined regulations aside from the Constitution. After October 2000, following sixty years of an aggressively atheistic regime’s rule, conditions were created for a new approach to the relations between the state and religious communities regarding not only the harmonization of domestic laws with European law, but also the possibility of developing an awareness of religion as an integral part of the life of a believer-citizen. A large number of talks have been held with the heads and representatives of religious communities, during both mutual visits and joint meetings of the heads of religious communities, the members of a team of legal experts, and the representatives of the FMRA/FSRA and the Republic Ministry for Religious Affairs. Although the EU does not exert direct influence on religious matters, as these matters are within the exclusive power of the member countries, the freedom of worship has a significant place in the EU’s legislation. The sphere of religion in EU law is regulated mainly by three basic principles: freedom, equality, and equal rights. The EU laws rely to a large extent upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms (1950). With the Amsterdam Agreement, European law took a direct step toward religious freedom. In a way, this agreement is also connected to the Declaration on the Athos Peninsula, which was annexed to the agreement signed when Greece joined the EU. The Declaration guarantees the maintenance of the special legal status of Mount Athos and respects the specific needs and religious traditions of a particular country entering the Union (The Chilandar Monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church is located on Mount Athos). This is an excellent illustration of the extent to which the Amsterdam Agreement manifests a positive attitude to national and regional structures, particularly taking into account the significant role religion plays in forming, integrating, and preserving a given society. The paper deals with the Draft Law on Religious Freedom, Law on Denationalization, Namely, the Restitution of Property and Compensation, The Renewal of Religious Education in Public Schools, Law on Radio Broadcasting in the Republic of Serbia (as It Applies to Religion)