BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The head of the Council of Europe on Wednesday criticized a new law in Hungary that sharply reduced the number of officially recognized churches and changed the procedure they need to follow to gain that status.Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland was in Budapest to meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other leading government officials to discuss the church law and other recent ones regarding media and judicial reforms that have drawn international criticism.Hungary's new church law, which requires parliamentary approval of churches by a two-thirds majority, sharply cut the number of officially recognized ones from more than 350 to 32.Before the change, religious groups only had to register with the courts to gain official status and access to state subsidies and tax advantages."Our assessment is that overall it provides a generous framework for religious communities, but there are some problems," Jagland said of the law in an interview with The Associated Press.

 

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