After the State Audit Institution (DRI) determined that the government had illegally funded religious schools – Muslim school ‘Mehmed Fatih’ and Orthodox high school ‘Sveti Sava’ – the Centre for Civic Education (CGO) filed a criminal charge to the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT).
“The charge was forwarded in line with the internal rules and annual schedule of work. Preliminary enquiries are underway,” the SDT spokesperson, Vukas Radonjic, has said.
Soon after the State Audit Institution published the report suggesting that religious schools had been funded illegally since 2019, the government proposed the 2025 Budget Law that missed to envisage the amount for the mentioned schools.
For now, the budget line concerning religious schools envisages 1 euro, and it’s in the Ministry of Justice.
Following the consultations with experts, Pobjeda daily got the explanation that the mentioned budget line was reserved, but funds would most likely be redirected later.
Since the budget revision in August this year, funding of religious schools, i.e. €1.7 million for a Muslim school ‘Mehmed Fatih’ and high school ‘Sveti Sava’ was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Justice.
The State Audit Institution determined that over the last four years, a total of €4.9 million was provided for religious schools. ‘Mehmed Fatih’ school got €3.1 million, while ‘Sveti Sava’ got €1.8 million (and it was established only two years ago).
Experts assume that the government, most likely due to the pressure of the public, for now decided not to determine funds for religious schools.
