ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses relations between Eastern Churches and Islam primarily in the region that was once part of Ottoman Empire but in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries formed into independent states with autocephalous Orthodox Churches, as well as Russia, which has by far Europe's largest Muslim population. In many of these lands, relationship between Christians and Muslims is long and deep, complicated by a number of internal and external factors and contextual variations from one country to the next. There are two important considerations with regard to Muslim–Christian relations in Bulgaria. The first is the significant role that religions played in its nation building. The second key feature about Bulgaria is the way that Muslim communities have developed in years following the end of socialism in the region in 1989. Greece is the only member of European Union that officially identifies itself as an Orthodox Christian country, and religion has been key element of Greek identity for hundreds of years.
