Anti-Corruption Agency of BiH is neither heard nor seen!

The entire security apparatus in Bosnia and Herzegovina must make the fight against corruption a priority, stated Drago Kos, an international expert in the fight against corruption, for the BiH news agency Patria (NAP). According to him, it is evident that politicians are having difficulty understanding that this is the only way to convince citizens that they are serious about leading a country where laws will apply equally to everyone.

However, Kos believes that the entire state leadership is responsible for this situation, and he is particularly disappointed with the work of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption and Coordination of the Fight against Corruption, which operates within the Ministry of Security of BiH.

- That agency was established a long time ago, but it is neither heard of nor is there any visible work being done. It must finally start functioning and have the conditions for work. I was indeed disappointed when I saw how diluted the law by which it was established was, but what I have seen since then is even worse. It is obvious that this was merely a perfunctory fulfillment of conditions for visa liberalization, not a genuine will to initiate the fight against corruption – says Kos.

According to him, the burden of this fight and the prosecution of criminal offenses in this area lies primarily with the judiciary, but not solely with them. Kos believes that problems also exist in the part where these cases must reach the judiciary.

- There are so many different interests and pressures on the work of certain police and prosecutor's office staff that the system simply cannot function effectively and prioritize corruption cases. The entire apparatus must approach this substantively, not just verbally – says Kos.