Croatian journalist praises religious tolerance in Kosovo: A Catholic was elected President in a country that is 93.5% Muslim

Croatian journalist Zoran Kusaovac has reacted after the election of Justina Shiroka-Pula to the post of President of Kosovo, highlighting the fact that she is Catholic in a country with an overwhelming Muslim majority.

Through a post, Kusaovac compared the situation in Kosovo with that in Serbia, raising the issue of the acceptance of religious differences in political and institutional life.

He emphasised that the election of a Catholic president in Kosovo has not been accompanied by conspiracy theories against Islam, accusations of some Vatican plot, or claims that the West is trying to undermine the religion of the majority.

In this context, the Croatian journalist questioned whether a similar scenario would be imaginable in Serbia, where the majority of the population belongs to the Orthodox faith.

“Kosovo (93.5% Muslim) elects the Catholic Justina Shiroka-Pula as President. Nobody questions this at all, nor speaks of conspiracy theories against Islam, of some Vatican plot or of the West undermining the religion of the majority. Can anyone imagine Serbia (81.1% Orthodox) electing a Muslim president? For example, Suljo Ugljanin or Shaip Kamberi?”, Kusaovac wrote.

Through this comparison, Kusaovac focused on the differences in the way religious affiliation and political representation are perceived in the two Western Balkan countries.

His post places the election of Shiroka-Pula in the context of religious tolerance and of the possibility for representatives of different religious communities to take high state posts, without their religious affiliation becoming a contested political issue, as Telegrafi reports.