ALBANIA, LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND ACTUAL APPLICATION

 

By Aid to the Church in Need*

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ALBANIA, PROSPECTS FOR FREEDOM OF RELIGION

Albania’s Constitution, adopted in October 1998, declares “religious coexistence” a basic principle for the state (Article 3). The republic is a secular state (Article 10), which guarantees the freedom of conscience and religion, including the right to choose or change religion or beliefs and to express them “individually or collectively, in public or in private life through cult, education … or the performance of rituals”(Article 24). Article 18 prohibits discrimination on religious grounds and political parties or other organisations “whose programs or activity are based on totalitarian methods, which incite and support” religious hatred are prohibited (Article 9). Destruction of, or damage to religious objects, and the prevention of religious ceremonies are punishable offences. Religious communities are equal before the law and relations between the state and religious communities are regulated by official agreements (Article 10). The government does not require registration or licensing of religious groups, but the State Committee on Cults regulates relations between the state and religious communities. According to Albania’s last census on religious identity, most citizens traditionally associate themselves with one of four predominant religious communities historically present in the country: two Muslim (Sunni, the majority, and Bektashi), and two Christian (Roman Catholic and the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania).

The Council of Europe has criticized that census for using an unreliable census methodology. Because of the government’s secular tradition and limited resources, it has reportedly refrained from providing financial assistance for the rebuilding of religious infrastructure destroyed under communism. “We cannot avoid foreign financial help,” said Loreta Aliko, head of the State Committee on Cults, conceding that the state has limited resources. Nevertheless, in 2022, the state allocated €935,000 to the aforementioned four religious communities for their administrative functioning and religious education. Delays in the restitution of religious properties that were seized by Enver Hoxha’s communist government are criticized by each of the religious communities. There has been no resolution of this issue during the relevant reporting period , although a February 2021 Constitutional Court ruling now requires the legislature to amend its existing compensation formula. Albanian law requires permits to build houses of worship. However, permits can be obtained post facto to legalize buildings that had already been constructed for that purpose in the past. 62 such permits were issued in 2021, as compared to 92 in 2020.

Incidents and developments

Official figures for religion-biased crimes 2021 and 2022 were not reported to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for inclusion in the annual hate crime report. Albania has been criticized for lack of enforcement of its hate speech laws by both the European Commission and domestic NGO’s. The U.S. State Department’s 2021 International Religious Freedom Report on Albania cited an International Republican Institute study suggesting that antisemitism in domestic media was rare. The referenced research in the report (between January 2019 and May 2020), however, was prior to this reporting period making it an unreliable indicator for the current situation. On 19th April 2021, Rudolf Nikollaj stabbed five people at the Dine Hoxha Mosque in Tirana following afternoon prayers. Sources state that the defendant had converted to Islam, but because his parents had a mixed Christian/Muslim marriage, he was prevented from worshipping by mosque goers. Domestic media suggests that Nikollaj was mentally ill and not taking his medication at the time of the stabbings. In November 2021, unidentified persons vandalized a mosque in the city of Lushnja. Due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Islamic Community and Catholic Church in Albania temporarily suspended all activities and closed mosques and churches in March, except for personal prayer and funerals. Restrictions or modifications of worship activities were re-imposed later in the year due to an uptick in cases after a relaxation of the rules. The restrictions have since been lifted. In May 2021, The European Commission informed the Council that Albania had met the remaining conditions to be fulfilled prior to the holding of the first Inter-Governmental Conference of accession negotiations. That first meeting took place in July 2022. There were no adverse judgments against Albania during the relevant reporting time by the European Court of Human Right relating to alleged freedom of religion violations.

Prospects for Freedom of Religion

Religious tolerance between the Islamic Community and the Orthodox and Catholic Churches remains one of the central pillars of stability within Albanian society. In the period under review, relations between Albanian Muslims and Christians continue to be good and the prospects for religious freedom remain positive.

 

* Religious Freedom Report 2023