Montenegrin MPs will be discussing the new proposed Law on Religious Freedom determined by the Government on Thursday at the session scheduled for 24 Dec. It is expected that the MPs of the ruling coalition will vote in favor of this law, as well as the MPs from the Bosniak Party and the Social Democrats.
The new law, among other things, guarantees legal security for every religious community. The proposed new law also guarantees the full right to freedom of religion and equal position of all religious communities in Montenegro, as well as the full right to belief for atheists.
Moreover, the new law proposes to register as state property of all religious buildings and sites formerly owned by the independent kingdom of Montenegro before it became part of the Serb-dominated Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later called Yugoslavia, in 1918.
The new law states that religious communities can only retain their assets if they can produce clear evidence of the right to ownership, spurring accusations from the Serbian Orthodox Church that the govt plans to confiscate its holdings.
“The government does not intend to enter churches, nor does it intend to prevent anyone from enjoying their religious rights in these buildings,” the govt concluded reflecting on this whole matter.
The 1977 Law on Religious Freedom is still in force in Montenegro.
