Awqaf in Europe

Belgrade : Muslims want the Return of Trusts and Endowments – Serbia returns Nationalised Possessions to Churches

60 years after the expropriation and nationalisation of the possessions of all church communities in Serbia the state now wants to either give back the former property or compensate the churches in an equitable manner. 

The Serbian parliament has passed a law to this effect on Thursday. The Serbian Orthodox Church alone lays claim to real estate worth 2,5 billion euro and 250,000 hectares of agricultural land, the greater part in Kosovo. The roman catholic church owned 30 000 hectares of land in the north of Serbia – the Islamic and jewish community, as well as other church organisations, also have a right to compensation. According to incomplete data from the state archive in Belgrade a total of several hundred thousand hectares of farm land, numerous forests and other estates, countless plots of land, residential houses, business premises and other properties, as well as objects of art and church furniture are at stake.