High school students in Srebrenica Threatened with lower grades over national football shirts, vice-president claims

"This is certainly the case in Srebrenica, as I have spoken with some of the parents," Durakovic stated. "These are high school students, not second-grade primary pupils, so they are capable of making rational decisions. A teacher told them their conduct grades would be lowered because wearing the shirts allegedly spreads ethnic intolerance."

The incident occurred on the day of a national team match between Bosnia and Romania, when the three girls wore team shirts, including one bearing the name of player Esmir Bajraktarevic, to show support for the national team. Durakovic highlighted what he termed a clear double standard regarding national symbols within the entity's education system.

"When children come to school wearing shirts or carrying flags of the Serbian national team, that is completely fine," Durakovic noted. "However, in their own country, where we all live and from which we draw our livelihood, this is apparently a problem. The children did not do this to provoke anyone, but because they love their homeland and their national team."

Describing the incident as an illegal misuse of authority, Durakovic warned that it reflects a wider and dangerous political narrative targeting Bosniaks and citizens loyal to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He referenced similar occurrences elsewhere, including an instance in Gradiska where a student was barred from a physical education class for wearing an Edin Dzeko shirt.

"The parents are moving towards suing both the school and the teachers who influenced these children," Durakovic said. "This is a legally clear-cut matter. We are talking about the state in which we live. It is perhaps a unique case in the entire world that someone forbids you from wearing the symbols of your own country. They will be sued for this, as it has no foundation in either the Constitution or the laws of this state."

Durakovic cautioned that such actions by educators exert a coercive influence over children, citing a case in Banja Luka where a ten-year-old girl feared wearing a national shirt because of potential backlash. He also recalled a personal experience involving his young daughter, who began making the sign of the cross after being instructed to do so by a nursery teacher whenever church bells rang.

"An instruction from a teacher acts as an order to a child," Durakovic concluded. "An attempt is being made to impose the systemic exclusivity of one nation, which violates the Constitution. Schools, nurseries, universities, and ministry offices all celebrate Orthodox religious holidays. I cannot imagine such phenomena existing in a modern, democratic, law-governed society anywhere else in the world."