Religious minorities in the Balkans still struggle with a degree of discrimination and with a lack of official cooperation in regaining assets confiscated by the communist regimes, a US State Department report says.

Despite progress in terms of legislation safeguarding equal rights for all religious minorities, most Balkan states still discriminate against some groups and lag behind in returning property confiscated by communist regimes, the US State Department said in its 2016 report on Religious Freedom, released on Tuesday.

Government of Kosovo in its routine meeting today endorsed the draft law on religious freedoms in Kosovo paving way for the Assembly’s vote. Deputy Prime Minister, Hajredin Kuçi, said that draft law aims to recognise the legal status of religious communities. “Kosovo will respect religious communities by recognising their representatives but always by preserving secularism of the state”, he said.