His Grace Bishop Sergije of Bihać-Petrovac informed officials at the Bosnia and Herzegovina level that the religious rights and freedoms of Orthodox members within the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of BiH are being violated.
Bishop Sergije, who also serves as military bishop, stated in a letter that this year the minister broke with the established practice of signing decisions on religious services, which also regulate the recording of religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter, thereby depriving employees of their fundamental religious rights.
He explained that since the establishment of the Orthodox Religious Service within the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of BiH, it had been standard practice for such decisions to be signed by the minister, but that he had been informed this practice was discontinued in 2026.
The justification, he noted, is that the Law on Labor in the institutions of BiH and the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of BiH must be respected, which refer to religious needs rather than holidays, thus preventing the use of four days recognized under the Law on Holidays of Republika Srpska as religious holidays.
He pointed out that at the level of joint institutions in BiH, many common laws do not exist, and entity-level regulations are applied based on the employee’s place of residence.
“Many entity laws are respected according to residence, while the Law on Holidays of Republika Srpska is not. This is clearly a case of selective application of laws based on a ‘like it or not’ principle,” Bishop Sergije stated.
He also emphasized that a recent practice in the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of BiH, in his view, severely restricts the basic religious rights of employees.
“They are being denied the right to observe religious holidays, which are instead recorded as paid leave for religious or traditional needs,” he said.
The bishop highlighted the difference between a religious holiday and paid leave, explaining that paid leave requires a formal request and employer approval, whereas holidays are predetermined non-working days established by law and do not require approval.
He added that entity laws form the basis for observing other holidays for all employees in BiH institutions, meaning that employees residing in Republika Srpska observe holidays not marked in the Federation, and vice versa.
He stressed that equating religious holidays with “religious needs” is a flawed legal interpretation, as it reduces a collective religious right to an individual form of paid leave, resulting in discrimination based on religion.
The Ministry of Defense of BiH referred to the Law on Labor in BiH institutions, which states that employers are obliged to allow up to six working days of leave per year for religious or traditional needs, with two days being paid leave.
According to the Ministry, its internal regulations are aligned with legal provisions, granting employees across the defense system two days of paid leave and four days of unpaid leave annually for religious needs.
Bishop Sergije sent the letter to multiple addresses, including Parliamentary Military Commissioner Boško Šiljegović, who confirmed receipt and stated that certain activities have been initiated regarding the issue.
Source: RTRS
