Serbian Orthodox Church in Dalmatia Protests Census Irregularities

The Eparchy of Shibenik and Dalmatia of the Serbian Orthodox Church has expressed its concern over the ongoing census in Croatia, saying that it has reports of Serbian Orthodox Christians in Dalmatia being registered as Uniates against their will. More here.

Croatia Begins National Census

Croatia began a national census yesterday, one that should be more accurate than its 2001 census due to the roughly proportional representation of Serbs (formerly a significant minority in Croatia's regions of Slavonia and Dalmatia) among the census takers. More here.

Montenegrin Metropolitan Calls on Flock to Freely Identify in Census

Metropolitan Amfilohije (Radovich) of Cetinje, Montenegro, and the Littoral of the Serbian Orthodox Church has issued a press release exhorting his flock and all Montenegrins to participate in the upcoming national census "without fear and prejudice, without any ideological burdens...according to conscience and [their] responsibility before God, the people, and their descendants - to express their religious, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds." Orthodox Christians, however, were called upon to identify their faith. More here.

The press release comes after remarks by Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilovich) of Pech encouraging Montenegro's ethnic Serb majority to identify as Serb and by Muslim leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia for Montenegro's Muslim minority to identify as ethnic Bosnians.

Serbian Orthodox and Yugoslav Muslim Leaders Call on Montenegrins to Identify in Census

Patriarch Irinej (Gavrilovich) of Pech of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Mustafa Ceric, head Bosnia-Herzegovina's Muslims, and Muamer Zukorlić, grand mufti of Serbia's Muslims, have all called on Montenegrins to freely identify their ethnicity and faith in the upcoming national census in Montenegro. Nationalists in Montenegro are pushing for the republic's citizens to identify as ethnic Montenegrins regardless of their actual ethnicity. More here.

Abkhazia, Georgia, and the EU

In talks with Georgia late last month the Abkhazian government has demanded that it hand over detainees from the Abkhazian War of Independence. This comes as the country campaigns for wider international recognition, particularly in Latin America, and as the European Union introduces a policy of "integration without recognition" that is providing humanitarian development aid to Abkhazia without formally recognizing its independence. Abkhazia has also begun a new post-war census to more accurately determine the size and composition of the country's population. (Figures from a 2003 census are disputed.)

Albanians, Turks Boycott Macedonian Census?

Albanian and Turkish citizens of Macedonia appear to be boycotting the government's recruitment efforts for its upcoming national census. More here.

Holy Synod Calls on Bulgarian Christians to Identify in 2011 Census

At the close of its recent session the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church called on the Orthodox Christian citizens of Bulgaria to identify themselves as Orthodox in the upcoming census to ensure the preservation of the place of Orthodoxy in Bulgarian national life. More here.

EU Urges Census in Bosnia-Herzegovina

The European Union (EU) is pressuring Bosnia-Herzegovina to form a new coalition government and to prioritize the enactment of census legislation to speed the process of the country's entrance into the EU. Bosnia-Herzegovina's last census was in 1991, at which time 43% of the country was Bosnian Muslim, 31% Serbian Orthodox, and 17% Croatian Catholic. More here.