Safet Kryemadhi on Albania as a model of religious tolerance

A debate is currently raging in Belgium over the role of religion in public space, and what form religious freedom should take. Political scientist Safet Kryemadhi writes in the daily La Libre Belgique that Belgium should model itself on Albania: "The debate on the place of religion in public space could take inspiration from the exemplary although little-known reality in Albania. There neither religious zeal nor out-and-out secularism take the fore: the various persuasions live together peacefully in a predominantly agnostic population. That is remarkable when you consider the country's religious diversity: Catholic, Orthodox, Sunni and Bektashi. Albanians imported the debate on the wearing of the veil from Europe. It is a paradoxical expression of (post)modernism and is leading them to question their model of inter-religious coexistence in a secular state. But the model has proved its worth. Albania has created an untypical balance between respect for religious tolerance and support for individual freedoms."

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