House overrides President; registration of churches in Slovakia now tougher

The conditions governing the registration of Churches and religious societies in Slovakia will be stricter, with Parliament overriding President Andrej Kiska's recent veto of a piece of legislation to this effect on Tuesday. A total of 103 lawmakers voted in favour of an amendment to the act on freedom of religion and the status of Churches and religious societies. In December, Kiska argued that it impinges on fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Slovak Constitution. Under the SNS-sponsored law, Churches and religious societies seeking to establish themselves in Slovakia will be required to back their application up with at least 50,000 members who are adult Slovak citizens with permanent residence in Slovakia. At present, only 20,000 such members are necessary. SNS has said that the initiative is aimed at preventing alleged religious entities from registering themselves in a speculative manner with the sole aim of acquiring financial contributions from the state. Kiska pointed out that since the law on this matter was tightened in 2007, the Culture Ministry has recorded only one attempt at fraudulent registration by means of submitting false signatures. "Furthermore, no new Church or religious society has been registered over this period," said Kiska. SNS argued against Kiska's position, however. "Slovakia has the right to lay down conditions for Churches and religious societies operating in the country and to institute these conditions in its registration requirements," said SNS caucus Chairman Tibor Bernaťák, referring to a ruling by the Slovak Constitutional Court. He added that the fact that a Church or religious society isn't registered doesn't preclude its followers from expressing their convictions.