BELGRADE, Serbia, April 20 (UPI) -- The Serbian Parliament Thursday passed a church law that the ruling Democratic Party says will help entry to the EU, but opponents say isn't up to snuff.
Serbian state radio-television said the new law should contribute to EU association talks because it proves Serbia is a multicultural state that tolerates and promotes many religions, from Orthodox Catholics to Islam.
But it is the promotion of many religions that opponents say doesn't meet European standards. The law calls for cooperation between the state and churches and religious communities, with the government providing financial support, although it also promotes churches' independence and separation from the state.
Just more than half of the 250-member legislature showed up to vote and the law passed 120-4 with five abstentions.
The law on churches and religious communities is the first since 1953, when the single-party communist regime introduced its rules. That law was abolished in 1993 by the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, in a period when there were clashes between Muslims and other religious groups.
