Slovakia Toughens Legislation To Prevent Islam From Gaining Official Status

Anti-Islam sentiment has swelled in Slovakia since the 2015 refugee crisis.

Slovakia’s parliament passed legislation on November 30 increasing the number of adherents required to constitute a state religion, effectively preventing Islam from obtaining this official status. Previously, 20,000 followers were needed to qualify a religion for state subsidies and for the right to operate its own schools. Now a religion must have 50,000 members to obtain such privileges. Slovakian Muslims, a community of 2,000, according to the government, thus saw their hopes of recognition further crushed.

The bill was introduced by the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS), a junior member of Prime Minister Robert Fico’s coalition government and gained a two-third majority in parliament. A bill to raise the membership bar to 250,000, proposed by another far-right party, wasrejected.  

Anti-Muslim rhetoric has become commonplace in Slovak politics. Fico declared in May, “Islam has no place in Slovakia,” while SNS Chairman Andrej Dankosaid, “Islamization starts with a kebab and it's already under way in Bratislava, let's realize what we can face in five to ten years...we must do everything we can so that no mosque is built in the future.” The Central European nation has a population of 5.4 million, 62 percent of which are declared Roman Catholics.

The migrant crisis, which has seen more than 1.3 million people arrive in European Union nations, coupled with the rise in terror attacks across the continent, has galvanized the Slovakian far right, which entered the government in March 2016 as part of Fico’s third cabinet.

Danko has promised to continue regulating Islam in Slovakia. He has called for a ban on wearing the burqa in public places. The SNS also aims to prohibit the construction of mosques and minarets in the country.

In astatement to the Associated Press, the Islamic Foundation called the new law “a serious blow for religious freedom in Slovakia.” The Islamic Foundation believes that there are as many as 5,000 Muslims in Slovakia, and it had already condemned the previous law as too restrictive.

Over the past year, Slovakia has repeatedly challenged the EU’s immigration policy and refused to take part in the refugee relocation scheme. This new law is, therefore, unsurprising and highlights the growing trend of anti-Muslim sentiment materializing into policy throughout Eastern Europe.