Serbia

Serbia is a land-locked country located in the west-central Balkans. In 2006, Serbia became a stand-alone sovereign republic, marking the final separation of the six states that had previously made up the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. In 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Serbia has never recognized Kosovo’s independence and the issue remains a major sticking point in its candidacy for joining the European Union.¹

Serbia has an elected President as its head of state. The Prime Minister leads the parliament which is made up of 250 elected members.²

According to the latest census conducted in 2022, 87% of the population are Christian, of which the majority are Orthodox and 4% are Catholic. Another 4% of the population are Muslim. 1% of the population are non-religious or atheist, and 2.5% did not declare their affiliation.³ Religion and ethnicity are closely bound in Serbian society and declared affiliation with a religious group does not necessarily indicate a deep engagement with religion.⁴

Constitution and government

Officially, Serbia has no State religion. The Constitution⁵ specifically invokes the principle of the separation of Church and State in Article 11. Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Belief is protected under Article 43, including the right to change one’s religion or belief. The freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief may only be restricted by law if necessary to:

“protect lives and health of people, morals of democratic society, freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Constitution, public safety and order, or to prevent inciting of religious, national, and racial hatred.”⁶

Discrimination or incitement to hatred based on religion or belief is prohibited under Article 21.

The State recognizes seven “traditional” religions, which appear automatically in its Register of Churches and Religious Communities and that are granted special treatment over other registered religious groups. These are the: Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), Roman Catholic Church, Slovak Evangelical Church, Reformed Christian Church, Evangelical Christian Church, the Islamic Community, and the Jewish community. The law grants these groups the right to receive tax refunds and provide chaplain services to military personnel.⁷

The government gives preferential treatment to the SOC, through funding and subsidies for clergy working outside the country.⁸ Politically the SOC is an extremely influential institution⁹ and has historically portrayed itself as the champion of Serbian national interests,¹⁰ opposing Kosovo’s independence¹¹ and closer ties with Europe.¹²

Although it is not mandatory for “non-traditional“ groups to register, only registered groups are entitled to build new places of worship, own property, apply for property restitution, or receive State funding for their activities. Registration is also required to open bank accounts and hire staff. In addition, registered clerics of registered groups are entitled to government support for social and health insurance and a retirement plan. The law also exempts registered groups from property and administrative taxes and from filing annual financial reports.¹³

The process of registration is regulated in Articles 9 and 17-25 of the Law on Churches and Religious Communities.¹⁴ As of 2023, there were 26 “non-traditional” religious groups registered with the government.¹⁵

Article 44 of the Constitution provides that:

“[The] Constitutional Court may ban a religious community only if its activities infringe the right to life, right to mental and physical health, the rights of the child, right to personal and family integrity, public safety and order, or if it incites religious, national or racial intolerance.”¹⁶

Education and children’s rights

Primary and secondary school students are required to attend classes on at least one of the seven “traditional” religions, or opt for civic education instead. “Non-traditional” religions are generally not covered in school curriculums.¹⁷

All children must complete secular primary school. Parents may choose to further educate their children in religious schools, at home, or within churches and religious communities as an addition to the secular primary education. Students are able to attend religious schools for secondary level education and beyond without restriction. The curriculum taught in the religion classes varies regionally, reflecting the number of adherents of a given religion in a specific community. At least five interested students is the minimum needed to offer instruction in a given religion.¹⁸

The Commission for Religious Education approves religious education programs, textbooks, and other teaching materials and appoints religious education instructors from lists of qualified candidates supplied by each religious group. The commission is comprised of representatives from each traditional religious group, the Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities, and the Ministries of Education and of Science and Technological Development.¹⁹

Family, community and society

Article 21 of the Constitution provides protection from “[a]ll direct or indirect discrimination based on any grounds, particularly on race, sex, national origin, social origin, birth, religion, political or other opinion, property status, culture, language, age, mental or physical disability.” Further, Section 3 provides specific protections of national minorities, including the expression of their “religious specificities”.

Women’s rights

Despite adopting notable laws and policies related to gender equality, women in Serbia face high levels of discrimination and gender-based violence, especially in rural areas.²⁰ Roma women in particular face intersectional discrimination and abuse, and are affected by harmful traditional practices such as child marriage.²¹

The Serbian Orthodox Church has played a significant role in perpetuating traditional stereotypes of women²² and this attitude is promoted in the media. According to Biljana Stepanov, director of the Novi Sad-based NGO Centre for Support of Women,

“If an ordinary woman stuck in a toxic marriage keeps hearing that she’s to blame for the violence and that those who attempt to break the marriage should be condemned, and this is the message of the media and the Church, she will never the find strength to get out of her misery.”²³

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended that Serbia conduct large-scale public campaigns targeted at all levels of society, including religious leaders, to promote gender equality.²⁴

LGBTI+ rights

Despite the appointment of the nation’s first openly gay Prime Minister in 2017, conservatism in society leads to ongoing discrimination against the LGBTI+ community and political parties rarely address LGBTI+ issues or concerns.²⁵

Article 62 of the Constitution defines marriage as a contract between a man and a woman, as such rendering same-sex marriage unrecognized. The law also prohibits same-sex couples from adopting, and recent changes to regulations imposed a ban on anyone with a “history of homosexual relations during the last five years” from donating “reproductive cells” for the purposes of artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, or laboratory tests.²⁶

A draft law on same-sex unions had been prepared in 2021 and was pending adoption. However, in August 2023, President Vučić announced he would never approve the law.²⁷

The LGBTI+ community in Serbia faces violence and abuse. Between January and September 2025, Serbian LGBTI+ rights group Da Se Zna! recorded 82 incidents of hate-motivated attacks against LGBTI+ people, including 28 physical attacks.²⁸

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

Media Freedom

Independent media in Serbia struggle to operate in a restrictive and threatening environment. Politicians are generally hostile towards critical media, an attitude that is magnified by the tabloid press that participates in smear campaigns against the political opposition and others who appear to oppose the government. Ruling party members have publicly threatened journalists, and media reporting on sensitive subjects have been labelled “traitors” and “enemies of the state”.²⁹

Journalists are regularly subject to threats and attacks. The Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia reported 166 attacks on journalists in 2024. This included physical attacks, damage to property, threats, lawsuits, and other forms of pressure. Journalists investigating corruption are especially at risk.³⁰

Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are used against the media³¹ and defamation has not been completely decriminalized.³² In December 2024, Amnesty International reported that the Serbian authorities were using commercial spyware products against journalists and others.³³

A new law on public information and media was passed at the end of 2023, which was considered regressive by many and out of line with international standards on freedom of expression.³⁴

Freedom of Assembly and Association

While citizens are generally able to assemble in Serbia, police and private security agents have used excessive force during demonstrations³⁵ and protestors have been subjected to arrests, home searches, and online threats.³⁶ According to Freedom House, protesters have faced prosecutions for alleged offenses including “preparing acts against the constitutional order and security of Serbia” and “calling for a violent overthrow of the constitutional order.”³⁷

Amnesty International has reported widespread use of intrusive surveillance by State and private companies.³⁸ A draft Law on Internal Affairs was opened to consultation in January 2023. According to Amnesty International,

“This sought to legalize the use of biometric mass surveillance in public places, provide authorities with greater discretion to disperse public assemblies, and authorize an expansive list of methods of coercion against protesters, without specifying the threshold or circumstances in which they would be used.”³⁹

NGOs that work on issues of rule of law and governance have faced threats and judicial harassment. At the end of 2024, the government drafted legislation requiring NGOs receiving foreign funding to register as “agents of foreign influence” and subjecting them to new regulations.⁴⁰

1. “Serbia Country Profile”, BBC, accessed April 2025 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17907947 [↩]
2. “Serbia”, Britannica, accessed April 2025 https://www.britannica.com/place/Serbia [↩]
3. “Mother tongue, religion and ethnic affiliation”, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, accessed April 2025 https://www.stat.gov.rs/en-us/vesti/20230616-st/ [↩]
4. Aleksandra Đurić-Milovanović and Marko Veković, “Religion and Forced Displacement in Serbia”, The Foreign Policy Centre, 23 July 2020 https://fpc.org.uk/religion-and-forced-displacement-in-serbia/; “Is Serbia a very religious society?”, Invent, 28 August 2021 https://inventculture.eu/2021/08/28/is-serbia-a-very-religious-society/ [↩]
5. Constitution of Serbia, The Government of the Republic of Serbia https://www.srbija.gov.rs/tekst/en/130144/constitution-of-serbia.php; Serbia’s Constitution of 2006, Constituteproject.org https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/srb129685.pdf (English)[↩]
6. Слобода испољавања вере или уверења може се ограничити законом, само ако је то неопходно у
   демократском друштву, ради заштите живота и здравља људи, морала демократског друштва,
   слобода и права грађана зајемчених Уставом, јавне безбедности и јавног реда или ради
   спречавања изазивања или подстицања верске, националне или расне мржње.[↩]
7. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Serbia, US Department of State, accessed April 2025 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/serbia/ [↩]
8. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Serbia, US Department of State, accessed April 2025 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/serbia/ [↩]
9. Sasa Dragojlo,“Serbian Church Picks Patriarch, Politics in Play”, BalkanInsight, 17 February 2021 https://balkaninsight.com/2021/02/17/serbian-church-picks-patriagrch-politics-in-play/ [↩]
10. “Serbia”, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Serbia [↩]
11. Maja Zivanovic, “Don’t Abandon Kosovo, Serbian Church Urges Govt”, BalkanInsight, 11 May 2018 https://balkaninsight.com/2018/05/11/serbian-orthodox-gcghurch-against-kosovo-independence-05-11-2018/ [↩]
12. Vesko Garčević, “The Serbian Orthodox Church and Extreme-Right Groups: A Marriage of Convenience or Organic Partnership?”, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs, 14 July 2023 https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/the-serbian-orthodox-church-and-extreme-right-groups-a-marriage-of-convenience-or-organic-partnership[↩]
13. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Serbia, US Department of State, accessed April 2025 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/serbia/ [↩]
14. Law on Churches and Religious Communities, “Official Gazette of RS”, No. 36/2006 https://www.paragraf.rs/propisi/zakon_o_crkvama_i_verskim_zajednicama.html [↩]
15. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Serbia, US Department of State, accessed April 2025 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/serbia/[↩]
16. Уставни суд може забранити верску заједницу само ако њено деловање угрожава право на живот, право на психичко и физичко здравље, права деце, право на лични и породични интегритет, право на имовину, јавну безбедност и јавни ред или ако изазива и подстиче верску, националну или расну нетрпељивост.[↩]
17. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Serbia, US Department of State, accessed April 2025 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/serbia/ [↩]
18. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Serbia, US Department of State, accessed April 2025 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/serbia/ [↩]
19. 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Serbia, US Department of State, accessed April 2025 https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/serbia/ [↩]
20. “Study Reveals Grim Statistics on Women’s Rights in Serbia”, United Nations Serbia, 20 March 2024 https://serbia.un.org/en/266702-study-reveals-grim-statistics-women%E2%80%99s-rights-serbia [↩]
21. Compilation of information prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/WG.6/43/SRB/2, 1 March 2023, Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, Forty-third session,1–12 May 2023 https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/WG.6/43/SRB/2 [↩]
22. Staša Zajović and Katie Mahuron, “Challenging the Growing Power of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Public Life: The Case of Women in Black-Serbia”, Awid, https://www.awid.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/feminists_on_the_frontlines_-_challenging_serbian_orthodox_-_women_in_black-serbia.pdf [↩]
23. Dariusz Kalan, “Serbia’s Femicide Record Undermines Claims of Progress on Women’s Rights”, BalkanInsight, 14 March 2025 https://balkaninsight.com/2025/03/14/serbias-femicide-record-undermines-claims-of-progress-on-womens-rights/ [↩]
24. Compilation of information prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/WG.6/43/SRB/2, 1 March 2023, Human Rights Council Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, Forty-third session,1–12 May 2023 https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/WG.6/43/SRB/2 [↩]
25. “Serbia” chapter in Freedom in the World 2022 (Freedom House, 2025) https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/freedom-world/2025 [↩]
26. Ron Synovitz & Gordana Cosic, “Lesbian PM Or Not, Serbia Blocks Gays’ Path To Parenthood”, RadioFreeEurope, 22 August 2019 https://www.rferl.org/a/lesbian-pm-or-not-serbia-blocks-gays-path-to-parenthood/30123813.html [↩]
27. Milica Stojanovic, “Serbian Pride Condemns President’s Vow to Veto Law on Same Sex Unions”, BalkanInsight, 14 August 2023 https://balkaninsight.com/2023/08/14/serbian-pride-condemns-presidents-vow-to-veto-law-on-same-sex-unions/ [↩]
28. “Serbia/Kosovo” chapter in World Report 2025 (Human Rights Watch, 2025) https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/serbia/kosovo [↩]
29. “Serbia” chapter in Amnesty International Report 2024/2025, (Amnesty International, 2025) https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/western-central-and-south-eastern-europe/serbia/report-serbia/; “Serbia” chapter in Freedom in the World 2025 (Freedom House, 2025) https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/freedom-world/2025 [↩]
30. “Serbia” chapter in Freedom in the World 2025 (Freedom House, 2025) https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/freedom-world/2025 [↩]
31. “Serbia/Kosovo” chapter in World Report 2024 (Human Rights Watch, 2024) https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/serbia/kosovo [↩]
32. “Serbia” chapter in Freedom in the World 2025 (Freedom House, 2025) https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/freedom-world/2025 [↩]
33. Serbia: Authorities using spyware and Cellebrite forensic extraction tools to hack journalists and activists”, Amnesty International, 16 December 2024 https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/serbia-authorities-using-spyware-and-cellebrite-forensic-extraction-tools-to-hack-journalists-and-activists/ [↩]
34. Milica Stojanovic and Ivana Jeremic, “ Serbian Parliament Adopts Controversial Media Laws”, BalkanInsight, 26 October 2023 https://balkaninsight.com/2023/10/26/serbian-parliament-adopts-controversial-media-laws/; “ Serbia: New draft media laws represent another step backward for media freedom”, Media Freedom Rapid Response, accessed April 2025 https://www.mfrr.eu/serbia-new-draft-media-laws-represent-another-step-backward-for-media-freedom/; “Serbia must revise the media reforms to respond to disinformation challenges in line with EU calls”, Reporters Without Borders, accessed April 2025 https://rsf.org/en/serbia-must-revise-media-reforms-respond-disinformation-challenges-line-eu-calls [↩]
35. “Serbia” chapter in Amnesty International Report 2024/2025, (Amnesty International, 2025) https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/western-central-and-south-eastern-europe/serbia/report-serbia/[↩]
36. “Serbia” chapter in Freedom in the World 2025 (Freedom House, 2025) https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/freedom-world/2025 [↩]
37. “Serbia” chapter in Freedom in the World 2025 (Freedom House, 2025) https://freedomhouse.org/country/serbia/freedom-world/2025 [↩]
38. “Serbia” chapter in Amnesty International Report 2024/2025, (Amnesty International, 2025) https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/western-central-and-south-eastern-europe/serbia/report-serbia/[↩]
39. “Serbia” chapter in Amnesty International Report 2024/2025, (Amnesty International, 2025) https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/western-central-and-south-eastern-europe/serbia/report-serbia/[↩]
40. “Serbia: Draft law on foreign agents risks democratic and EU integration goals”, European Economic
    and Social Committee, 3 December 2024 https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/presentations/serbia-draft-law-foreign-agents-risks-democratic-and-eu-integration-goals [↩]