E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 Page 63 Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia, in 1998 and in 1999 the Constitutional Court abolished several articles of the Law which regulated issues related to the status, conditions for registration and activities of religious communities and religious groups. Currently, there are initiatives for the adoption of a new law for the regulation of religious freedoms and the rights of the citizens of Macedonia. Following a brief presentation of the history of the country with regard to freedom of religion or belief, the Government provided information on the current situation. In 2002, there were intensive talks between the Serbian and the Macedonian Orthodox Churches, as well as with other Orthodox Churches, for the recognition of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The Universal Patriarch recommended that the Macedonian Orthodox Church negotiate with the Serbian Orthodox Church. In this context, several meetings were held and the result was the Nis Agreement, signed by the three bishops of the Macedonian Orthodox Church (Jovan, Petar and Naum) which, according to them, did not constitute an agreement but a basis for further negotiations. This agreement, in which the Macedonian Orthodox Church is referred to as the Ohrid Archdiocese, is accepted neither by the Macedonian Orthodox Church nor by its followers and has caused great dissatisfaction, being seen as damaging for the Macedonian Orthodox Church and for the Macedonian people. Ever since, the relations between the two Orthodox Churches have been very strained. The Holy Hierarch Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities and Groups recommended continuation of the talks but under the condition that the name of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and its autocephalous status would not be subject to negotiation. 244. In 2003, immediately after the publication of the Nis Agreement, the Serbian Orthodox Church made a series of appointments that were seen as interference in the internal affairs of the Macedonian Orthodox Church and thereby of the State as well. These acts of the Serbian Orthodox Church constituted in fact the establishment of a parallel Church, called the “Ohrid Archdiocese”, as well as a negation of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. This is an issue which deeply affects the religious sentiments of the majority of the population in the Republic of Macedonia more than 66 per cent of whom, according to the census data, are Orthodox. 245. The Serbian Orthodox Church undertook these activities immediately after the meeting of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia with the Russian Patriarch Alexis II when he put forward the proposal for mediation in the year-long dispute between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Macedonian Orthodox Church. 246. With regard to the case of Zoran Vraniskovski, born in 1966 in Bitola, the Government recalled that had been appointed Metropolitan of the Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1998 and deposed in July 2003, and he joined the Serbian Orthodox Church in September 2002. Despite the canonical basis for his removal, which included slapping a priest during a service and embezzling a large sum of money, he was given a long period for “repentance” before finally being deposed. 247. The Government indicated that Mr. Vraniskovski, especially after he joined the Serbian Orthodox Church and was appointed Exarch for Macedonia, by continuing to work on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, violates the applicable Law on