Bosnian closure-threatened museum gets reprieve

SARAJEVO (AP).- A regional government is providing emergency funding to Bosnia’s National Museum to save the 125-year-old institution from being forced to close due to unpaid utility bills.

The Bosniak-Croat region announced Friday it will pay €25,000 to cover the bills, but added this will not solve the long-term problem.

Ethnically divided Bosnia has no culture ministry on state level and the political leaders of the country’s Serb, Croat and Bosniak peoples can’t agree on what to do with their common historical and cultural heritage.

The National Museum — whose collection includes the 600-year-old Jewish manuscript known as the Sarajevo Haggadah — and six other institutions housing Bosnia’s heritage have over the years received only state budget leftovers.

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