As of 27 March 2026, Europe has only a small number of clearly named freedom of religion or belief envoys or commissioners. But across the European Union, most governments still manage relations with religious communities through ministries, commissions and administrative offices rather than through high-profile FoRB mandates.
Europe’s institutional map on freedom of religion or belief is more developed than it may first appear, but it is also highly uneven. At the supranational level, the most visible European Union role is once again the European Commission’s Special Envoy for freedom of religion or belief outside the EU, a role the Commission said on 26 March 2026 would now be held by Mairead McGuinness.
The appointment, also covered by The European Times, restored a post that had been vacant for 480 days and had become a recurring point of concern for civil society groups, MEPs and religious-freedom advocates.
But Brussels is not the whole picture. In Strasbourg, the Council of Europe had already moved months earlier to create its own high-level post dealing with religious intolerance. On 5 December 2025, the Council of Europe announced that Irene Kitsou-Milonas had begun her mandate as Secretary General Alain Berset’s Special Representative on antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and all forms of religious intolerance, having assumed duties on 1 December.
As The European Times reported in February, that decision gave the Council of Europe a more visible institutional focal point for defending religious minorities at a time when the European Union still had not filled its 480-day FoRB envoy vacancy.
The distinction is important. The Council of Europe role is not a classic FoRB envoy in name. Its mandate is framed more broadly around antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and all forms of religious intolerance. Yet in practical terms it is one of the most relevant Europe-level posts for the defence of religious minorities, interreligious dialogue and the wider protection of belief-related rights across the continent.
At national level, clearly named envoy-style posts remain rare. Germany is one of the clearest examples, with Thomas Rachel serving as Federal Government Commissioner for Freedom of Religion or Belief. The Netherlands also stands out, with official Dutch government material identifying Paul Bekkers as Special Envoy for Religion and Belief. The Czech Republic should now be counted in that small group as well: the Czech Foreign Ministry’s current Special Envoys page lists Robert Řehák as Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, Combating Antisemitism and Freedom of Religion or Belief, with a term beginning on 20 January 2026.
Outside the EU, the United Kingdom likewise continues to maintain a named role, with David Smith listed by the British government as UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Across most of the European Union, however, governments have chosen a different model. Instead of appointing envoys, they rely on domestic structures: directorates for religious freedom, offices for religious affairs, church-state liaison bodies, ministries of ecclesiastical affairs, or commissions dealing with religious recognition and relations with faith communities. These institutions can be influential, but they are not quite the same as a public envoy with an explicitly rights-based mandate.
A three-level European picture
Seen as a whole, Europe’s religious-freedom architecture now operates on three different levels.
First, there is the European Union level, where the Commission has restored its Special Envoy for freedom of religion or belief outside the EU through the 26 March 2026 Commission announcement.
Second, there is the Council of Europe level, where Alain Berset’s Special Representative provides a Strasbourg-based focal point for responding to antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred and wider religious intolerance across the organisation’s member states, as outlined in the Council of Europe notice on Irene Kitsou-Milonas.
Third, there is the national level, where only a few EU countries maintain clear FoRB envoy-style posts, while most rely on ministries, commissions or administrative departments to handle religion-state relations internally.
That three-level structure matters because it shows that Europe does have institutions dealing with religion and belief, but it does not have a broad, coherent network of named FoRB envoys. The continent’s approach remains split between diplomacy, minority protection and administrative management.
Country by country in the European Union
Austria: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified in current official material, but Austria has an Office of Religious Affairs in the Federal Chancellery.
Belgium: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified. Religious matters are handled through the federal justice administration’s service for recognised religions and non-confessional philosophical organisations.
Bulgaria: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified. Current state material continues to show a functioning Religious Denominations Directorate.
Croatia: No FoRB envoy was identified. Croatia maintains an Office of the Committee for Relations with Religious Communities.
Cyprus: No clearly named FoRB envoy was identified in the official material reviewed for this article. Publicly visible liaison with religious communities appears to remain embedded in broader governmental and presidential channels, including the work of the Presidential Commissioner on issues affecting the island’s recognised religious groups.
Czech Republic: Yes. The Czech Foreign Ministry currently lists Robert Řehák as Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, Combating Antisemitism and Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Denmark: No FoRB envoy was identified. Denmark instead retains a dedicated Ministry for Ecclesiastical Affairs.
Estonia: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified. Religious-community matters appear to remain within the interior administration and the legal framework on churches and congregations, including material published by the Ministry of the Interior.
Finland: No FoRB envoy was identified. The Ministry of Education and Culture says it administers matters relating to churches and other religious communities.
France: No FoRB envoy was identified. France continues to rely on the Interior Ministry’s Bureau central des cultes.
Germany: Yes. Germany currently has a Federal Government Commissioner for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Thomas Rachel.
Greece: No separate FoRB envoy was identified, but Greece has a Secretary General for Religious Affairs within the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports.
Hungary: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified. Church relations remain linked to government structures, including the state-secretary level responsible for church and nationality relations.
Ireland: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified. Ireland instead appears to be moving through a renewed structured dialogue with faith and non-confessional groups rather than through a named envoy role.
Italy: No FoRB envoy was identified. Italy manages relations with religious denominations through structures within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, including the service for relations with religious denominations.
Latvia: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified. Religious-law issues remain tied to the justice administration, whose competences are outlined by the Ministry of Justice.
Lithuania: No FoRB envoy was identified. The Ministry of Justice handles matters related to religious communities, including recognition procedures.
Luxembourg: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified. Relations with religious communities continue through state conventions and ministerial responsibility for cult matters, reflected in official government material on agreements with religious communities.
Malta: No FoRB envoy was identified. Malta maintains a visible church-state liaison mechanism through the Joint Office.
Netherlands: Yes. Official Dutch material identifies Paul Bekkers as Special Envoy for Religion and Belief.
Poland: No FoRB envoy was identified. Poland has a Department for Religious Denominations and National and Ethnic Minorities in the Ministry of the Interior and Administration.
Portugal: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified, but Portugal has a longstanding Comissão da Liberdade Religiosa.
Romania: No separate FoRB envoy was identified. Romania maintains a State Secretariat for Religious Affairs.
Slovakia: No FoRB envoy was identified. Churches and religious societies remain under the Ministry of Culture.
Slovenia: No FoRB envoy was identified. Religious-freedom matters are currently presented through the Ministry of Culture’s religious-freedom framework and related official structures, including the Cultural Diversity, Human Rights and Religious Freedom Service, rather than through a named envoy role.
Spain: No national FoRB envoy was identified. Spain has one of the clearest internal structures in the EU: a Directorate-General for Religious Freedom within the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes.
Sweden: No dedicated FoRB envoy was identified in the material reviewed. Registration and related administrative matters continue through state institutions such as Kammarkollegiet rather than a named envoy role.
Human rights, minority protection and administration
The picture is therefore more nuanced than a simple tally of envoys. Europe has, at present, a small number of high-level figures dealing directly with freedom of religion, belief or religious intolerance. The European Commission now has one. The Council of Europe has one in a related but not identical format. Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic have national examples within the EU. But most EU member states still approach the subject through administrative governance rather than envoy diplomacy.
For religious minorities, newer communities and non-belief groups, that difference can matter. A ministry can regulate, register and consult. An envoy can also signal public priority, visibility and political commitment. As Europe continues to debate how seriously it protects freedom of religion or belief both abroad and at home, that distinction is likely to remain part of the conversation.
