The houses of worship have remained informal even after two decades they were reconstructed. There are 1028 houses of worship that have been waiting for years to be legalized. This process has been accelerated in these two years also for the houses. Prime Minister Edi Rama visited the Mosque in Bicaj of Kukes, and he handed the legalization certificate for this and four other mosques of the area over to the Mufti of Kukes. The Prime Minister underlined that this is an inherited problem, and it is being solved as the houses of worship are becoming legitimate properties of the religious communities.

“Among other things, we have inherited churches and mosques that were built or reconstructed after being demolished, and they have not been legalized yet, hence they are not property of religious communities. Now we have to make the religious communities owners. Another measure to be taken by us is that mosques and churches will pay the same energy fee as families, and therefore costs will be reduced. So far there are 400 among churches, mosques and masjids that have been legalized. We have still a lot to do. There is a total of 1028 of them”, the Prime Minister said.

“We’re closely collaborating with the regional directorate. I want to thank them for the work they have done, and for being always willing to collaborate for the legalization of the houses of worship. They’ve done a precious job, and we are very grateful for their collaboration”, the Mufti said.

Prime Minister Rama also handed over the legalization certificates of the mosques of Kolsh, Mamz, Bardhoc and Mustafa.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama handed the legalization permit of the newest church in Gjirokaster over to the archbishop of the city. The church opened its doors just one week earlier, on Easter Sunday. During the handover ceremony of the legalization document of the church and the nearby school, Prime Minister Rama underlined that a thorough process has started for the legalization of the properties of religious communities. “It is a great pleasure for me to be here today and hand over the legalization document of the church and the nearby school, thus ending a long history. I am happy to say that we made possible the construction of this church. I am also happy to underline that we have embarked on a thorough process for the legalization of properties of the religious communities, and I am very happy to hand these documents over to the vicar of God here in this church”.