Bosnian Serb Ruling Party Plans to Pay Religious Officials

Critics accused Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik of populist tactics after he said his party will propose that the government of Republika Srpska finances religious officials’ salaries from the Serb-dominated entity's budget.

Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik (L) attends service at the St. Trinity Church in Banja Luka. Photo: EPA/DRAGO VEJNOVIC

Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency and head of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, the ruling party in Republika Srpska, has come under criticism after suggesting that religious officials’ salaries should be paid by the entity.

If his proposition is accepted by the government of the entity, Muslim imams, Orthodox and Catholic priests and other religious officials will receive their paychecks from the Republika Srpska budget from the start of 2023.

“This is a step away from secularism,” said Zarko Papic, a political analyst from Sarajevo.

Dodik made the suggestion on Twitter on June 28, writing that his party “will send a proposal to the government of Republika Srpska for all religious officials serving in Republika Srpska from January 1, 2023 to receive a guaranteed salary with accompanying contributions”.

The following day, the Secretariat for Religion, which operates under the Ministry of Education and Culture of Republika Srpska, sent an “urgent request” to all muftis of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina to deliver data on the number of imams in Republika Srpska.

Istraga.ba reported that the Republika Srpska government is now preparing a draft of next year’s budget and already plans to include religious workers, even before the proposition has been voted upon.

Vojin Mijatovic, an opposition candidate for the Serb position on the tripartite Bosnian presidency in October’s general elections, described the move as “cheap attempt to buy votes”.

“It’s a completely unnecessary move in times in which we have some 30 per cent of the population living on the edge of poverty,” Mijatovic told BIRN.

The constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina describes the country as “a democratic, legal, social and secular state”.

But religion is used as a political tool of influence in Bosnia and Herzegovina on a daily basis, and the division between religious communities has deepened since the 1992-95 war.

Papic said that financing religious officials from the budget “would mean that religion would become an instrument of state”.

The Serbian Orthodox Church, which is the main religious body in the Serb-dominated entity, would benefit disproportionately from the funding plan.

Papic described it as “a logistical mechanism for [spreading] Greater Serbian nationalism”.

Many also see the move as an attempt to boost political support for Dodik in Republika Srpska.

Dodik will not run for a second mandate on the Bosnian tripartite presidency in this year’s general elections. Instead, he will be seeking the position of the president of Republika Srpska.

“It is a very clear attempt to buy votes, but instead of doing it ‘under the table’, it will be done through budget money,” Papic alleged.

Ahead of the October elections, short-term financial assistance has also been offered to young people in Republika Srpska.

From Tuesday until the end of July, all people aged 16 to 29 can apply for a support payment of 100 Bosnian marks (some 50 euros). The money is due to land in their bank accounts in September.

“It is hard to get rid of the feeling that they are buying votes, but this time parties are buying votes officially, formally and with public money,” Papic said.

The government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country’s other entity, is also considering short-term financial assistance to retired people and those in need. Its decision will be known after a meeting on Thursday.