Bosnia, Kosovo Dismiss Austrian Claim About 'Paid' Veils

Religious and political authorities in Bosnia and Kosovo have dismissed a statement of Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz that women in Bosnia and Kosovo are being paid to wear full veils.

Besa Ismaili, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies in Pristina, Kosovo, told BIRN there is no proof anyone in the country is paying women to wear a veil, and called the assertion "offensive" and "harmful".

"If a veiled girl is expelled from the school, loses her job, does not enjoy financial equality and economic and political opportunities due to the veil, what financial benefit are we talking about here?" she asked.

"This has no logic, but is part of the Islamophobic campaigns coming from European rightists," she said, adding that the veil has been worn by Muslim women in the region for centuries.

"Veiled women in Kosovo today are in the margins of margins of the society, [living] in extreme poverty, [facing] tremendous discrimination… and on top of that, someone speaks about them receiving money. This is shameful," Ismaili added.

Kurz made the statement to Austrian newspaper Handelsblatt on August 21, while warning of the growing influence of Turkey and Saudi Arabia in Europe.

"In Sarajevo and Pristina, for example, women are paid to wear the full veil in public," Kurz told the newspaper.

The goal of this, claimed Kurz, was to change the appearance of communities, the newspaper reported on Monday.

Bosnia's Security Minister, Dragan Mektic, said he had never received such reports. "I have no such information. I talked to our security services, and they also do not have such information. I have no idea what it is based on," he told local N1 news channel on Tuesday, adding he would contact the Austrian security...