Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SKOPJE273
2008-04-18 12:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Skopje
Cable title:  

MACEDONIA: IMPLEMENTING NEW RELIGIOUS FREEDOM LAW

Tags:  PGOV MK PREL KIRF 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1785
PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSQ #0273/01 1091225
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 181225Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY SKOPJE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7268
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE 0280
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUESEN/SKOPJE BETA
RUEHSQ/USDAO SKOPJE MK
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2249
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000273 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2018
TAGS: PGOV MK PREL KIRF
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: IMPLEMENTING NEW RELIGIOUS FREEDOM LAW
WHILE BLURRING CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION

REF: A. SKOPJE 120

B. 2007 SKOPJE 290

Classified by: POLOFF BOSWORTH FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) and (D)


SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SKOPJE 000273

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2018
TAGS: PGOV MK PREL KIRF
SUBJECT: MACEDONIA: IMPLEMENTING NEW RELIGIOUS FREEDOM LAW
WHILE BLURRING CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION

REF: A. SKOPJE 120

B. 2007 SKOPJE 290

Classified by: POLOFF BOSWORTH FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) and (D)


SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) With implementation of an acclaimed new Law on
Religious Groups due to begin on May 1, internal opposition
is growing against GOM-backed programs and trends perceived
as running counter to a clear separation of church and state.
Specifically, some government agencies, political parties,
and citizens' groups oppose plans for a state-funded church
in the main city square of Skopje and a mosque in Tetovo (ref
A). Additionally, plans to include religious education in
public schools beginning this fall are meeting with
opposition from parents, students, and some religious
leaders, in addition to being challenged in the
Constitutional Court. The largely low-key opposition may take
a more robust profile as the government takes steps to
implement these projects. At the same time, a few challenging
test cases for registration of religious communities under
the liberal new Law on Religious Communities may shed some
light on whether the GOM is leaning towards enhancing
religious freedoms under the new law, or further blurring the
line between church and state. End summary.

State-Funded Churches/Mosques Face Government Critics
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) The behind-closed-doors January 22 decision of the
GOM to fund the construction of an Orthodox church in the
main city square of Skopje and to reconstruct a mosque in
Tetovo (ref A) is facing criticism from a variety of sources,
including government officials. Initially opposed by civic
and NGO leaders as well as members of opposition political
parties, the criticism now is coming from closer to home, and
includes both the head of the Ministry of Culture's
Directorate of Cultural Preservation and the Director of the
Government's Commission for Relations with Religious
Communities and Groups.


3. (C) The Director of the State Commission for Cultural

Preservation, Metin Izeti, told us that while he has
dedicated his career to securing funding for the preservation
of religious sites, he strongly opposes the notion of "a
church for me, and a mosque for you" decided behind closed
doors. He believes that state funding should focus on
preservation of existing cultural/religious sites, and not on
the politically-motivated creation of new ones.


4. (C) State Commission on Relations with Religious Groups
and Communities Director Zvonko Mucunski also has distanced
himself from the GOM decision, noting that he is unsure where
funding will come from for the projects. He adds that the
government decision is "unrelated to this Commission."
Despite his lack of support for the plan, he was tasked by
the GOM with quieting the plan's most vocal detractor, the
ethnic-Albanian NGO "Wake Up". Wake Up protested the plan on
the basis that the location proposed for the church is the
location of Mother Teresa's childhood home, and called for a
memorial home to be built on the site instead (ref A).
Mucunski recently told us that the "issue with the NGO has
been resolved," and that Wake Up recently had been licensed
to build the memorial home next to the nearby Army Hall, off
the main central square of Skopje, leaving the central square
site open for the GOM-planned church construction.


Religion in Public Schools: Bucking the Constitution to Give
Youth What they Don't Want
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) Construction of churches and mosques is not the
only area in which the appropriateness of government funding
and action is being questioned. Permitted by April 2007
amendments to the Law on Education, and confirmed in the new
Law on Religious Communities, religious education in public

SKOPJE 00000273 002 OF 003


schools is getting a second chance at life, after failing to
reach the classrooms in 1998 because of a Constitutional
Court challenge. The new plan for religious instruction in
public schools (which includes a choice among a single-faith
course, a course on the history of religions, or a foreign
language course) is also facing a challenge in the
Constitutional Court.


6. (C) The opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
initiated the Constitutional Court challenge, on the grounds
that religious instruction in public schools violates the
constitutional requirement for the separation of church and
state. The case against religious education in the public
schools has found some supporters within the Government, as
well as among many students and parents, and even some
religious leaders. The Ministry of Education, also
less-than-enthusiastic about the potential segregationist
nature of single-religion courses, recently proposed adding
the foreign language option alongside the religious course
offerings.


7. (SBU) Youth leaders also shared their concerns about the
potentially segregationist nature of the single-faith
courses. At a recent discussion of inter-ethnic and
inter-religious relations, a mixed group of ethnic Macedonian
and ethnic Albanian high school and university student
leaders expressed strong opposition to adding another layer
of academic separation, beyond the existing linguistic
barrier, between ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanian
students. While most supported courses such as "comparative
religions" or "history of religions", the students were
uniformly against any single-faith courses, even elective
ones, being included in the public school curriculum. One
student noted that her parents were working at the local
level to prevent single-faith courses in the public schools
in her town.


8. (SBU) Despite such opposition, development of curricula
for the courses is underway. While Orthodox, Islamic,
Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant community leaders have told
us that they were asked by the Ministry of Education to work
together in developing a curriculum for the proposed history
of religions course, none has any insight into the status of
that project. Each indicated he has worked only on the
curriculum for the single-faith course. Minister of
Education Sulejman Rushiti has indicated that the Ministry
will review the materials submitted by the religious
communities for the single-faith courses, and has suggested
that schools here might use something "off-the-shelf" from
abroad for the history of religions course.


9. (SBU) A Macedonian Orthodox Church leader who was
involved in developing curricula during the 1998 effort to
bring religious education to the public schools does not
believe there is sufficient time to develop an effective and
well-planned program, either at the single-faith or the
multi-faith level. Metropolitan Metodi Zlatanov, in a
conversation with POLOFF, recently offered, "it's not
important to start this as soon as possible, it's important
to get it right."


10. (C) Court challenges and opposition aside, both the
State Commission on Relations with Religious Communities and
Groups and the Ministry of Education believe that the
Constitutional Court will clear the way for the courses to
start this fall. The State Commission indicated it expects
the case to be finished by the end of May, and the Ministry
of Education is convinced that the program will go forward
for the 2008-2009 school year. LDP's Andrej Zernovski said
that the Prime Minister is personally interested in this
case, and may be applying pressure on the Constitutional
Court for a quick resolution.


Liberal Religious Freedom Law?
--------------

11. (C) As debate continues on these contentious areas of
interplay between church and state, neither government nor
religious leaders are focusing much attention on
implementation of the new Law on Religious Communities.

SKOPJE 00000273 003 OF 003


Under the new law, which generally meets international
standards and is arguably the most liberal in the region, the
process for registering religious communities and groups will
be passed from the State Commission on Relations with
Religious Communities and Groups to the Skopje Basic Court
(ref B). But just weeks ahead of implementation of the new
law, neither the State Commission nor the Basic Court has
further information on implementation plans. Last month, the
State Commission's Director Mucunski said it was likely "too
early" to ask the Ministry of Justice what steps it was
taking to prepare the Skopje Basic Court to assume its new
adjudication duties following the September 2007 passage of
the law. Religious leaders of those communities that will be
authorized to register for the first time under the new law
have not been informed what the registration process will
entail. Similarly, the State Commission does not know what
specific challenges communities that faced registration
obstacles in the past, such as the Bektashi and "Ohrid
Archbishopric" (ref B),might encounter under the new law.


COMMENT
--------------

12. (SBU) There appears to be a broad base of opposition
here, inside and outside the Government, to blurring the line
between church and state, especially given the potential
negative impacts on inter-ethnic relations of the
government's dabbling in religion. However, despite the
Constitutional Court challenge to religious education in
public schools and NGO protests against a government-funded
church on the main Skopje city square, the public outcry
against the projects has been muted. Similarly, few seem
surprised or concerned about the potential lack of readiness
to implement the new Law on Religious Communities on May 1.
The largely quiet opposition to what may be a trend away from
a clear separation of church and state may be credited, at
least in part, to the media and citizens' focus on other key
issues (NATO membership, the name dispute, early elections).
Nevertheless, government leaders expect a rapid resolution
of the Constitutional Court challenge to religious education
in the public schools. As NGO opposition to the government
plan to build a church in Skopje's main city square is
quieted, all signs are pointing toward forward momentum on
these projects. With the reality of implementation looming,
we can expect the volume of opposition to increase. At the
same time, challenging test cases of registrations of
previously controversial religious groups under the new Law
on Religious Communities will help clarify which way the GOM
is leaning at this crossroads between enhancing religious
freedom and blurring the lines separating church and state.
End comment.


MILOVANOVIC