Republika Srpska Gives Students 100, 150 Marks Before Vote
The Republika Srpska government approved one time aid for more than 115,000 primary and secondary students and tens of thousands of university students, a month before Bosnia's general election.
Decisions made by the Republika Srpska government ahead of elections are watched in Belgrade just as closely as in Banja Luka itself, since the entity home to the vast majority of Bosnian Serbs is entering a campaign whose outcome will shape relations with Serbia for years to come. On September 4, the Republika Srpska government approved one time cash assistance for all primary and secondary school students, as well as regular university students, exactly one month before Bosnia and Herzegovina’s general election, scheduled for October 4.
Under the decision, primary school students receive 100 marks, while secondary school and university students get 150 marks each. The measure covers more than 80,000 primary school students and nearly 35,000 secondary school students, over 115,000 in total, for which, according to Republika Srpska Education and Culture Minister Borivoje Golubovic, about 13,450,000 marks will be needed. Documentation for primary and secondary students will be prepared by teachers working with parents, then submitted to the ministry.
“The documentation will be submitted to the ministry, and payments in the stated amounts will follow immediately,” Golubovic said after the government session.
Some sources put the number of university student beneficiaries at around 30,000, with an additional 4.5 million marks set aside for them, while other outlets list the overall number of beneficiaries at more than 147,000. The figures for each category don’t match exactly across the available statements, but the core framework, 100 marks for primary school students and 150 marks for secondary school and university students, is consistent everywhere. The application through which students register and submit documents for their university status to be verified will go live on Monday.
Republika Srpska Prime Minister Savo Minic announced the measure on X: “We want to make the start of the new school and academic year easier for families in Republika Srpska.”
First Pensioners, Then Students
The payment for students is not the first one time handout the Republika Srpska government has announced during this campaign. On August 31, it approved aid for pensioners, 120 marks for those with lower pensions and 80 marks for those with above average pensions. The campaign for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s general election began on September 4, the same day the student aid decision was made, and the opposition is making similar moves in the same period: Drasko Stanivukovic, president of the PSS party and mayor of Banja Luka, has announced he will personally give 100 marks to each first grader out of his own funds.
Is the Timing a Coincidence?
Political scientist Velizar Antic sees nothing suspicious in linking the payments to the election. “All the aid being handed out at this moment is directly linked to the October elections,” Antic said in a statement to Srpskainfo, adding that the authorities are using it to try to win over part of the electorate.
Political analyst Tanja Topic argues a fairer approach would tie the aid to means tested social welfare cards, which don’t exist in Republika Srpska, so the same measure that every government repeats before every election is read two different ways by the public, depending on who happens to be in power. “This is seen as demeaning to citizens,” Topic said in a statement to the same outlet.
As previously reported, the campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina began on September 4, with voting scheduled for October 4, when voters in Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will also decide whether the pre-election generosity of the Banja Luka authorities changed the mood on the ground.
