The predominantly Christian country of Slovakia passed a law on Nov. 30 that effectively bans Islam as an officially recognized religion, which also blocks Islam from receiving any state subsidies for its schools, reported Reuters.
The prime minister, Robert Fico, said in May that "Islam has no place" in Slovakia. Prior to the law being passed, Slovak National Party Chairman Andrej Danko said, "Islamization starts with a kebab and it's already under way in Bratislava -- let's realize what we can face in 5 to 10 years."
"We must do everything we can so that no mosque is built in the future," said Danko.
The new law says that a religion must have at least 50,000 members to qualify for state recognition; the previous threshold was 20,000 members. According to Slovakia's latest census, as reported by Reuters, there are 2,000 Muslims there and "no recognized mosques."
The law passed with a two-thirds majority in the Slovakia Parliament.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Slovakia and the United States established diplomatic relations, in 1993. Slovakia is a member of the European Union and NATO. The country sits in the center of Eastern Europe, bordered by the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Ukraine and Hungary. Slovakia's population is approximately 5.4 million. As for religion, 62.2% of Slovaks are Catholic, 9% Protestant, 3.8% Greek Catholic, 1% Orthodox, and 13.4% atheist, according to the Slovak Statistical Office. (10.6% did not answer the question about their religious belief.)