Ahić on SOA report: The claim of enclaves in BiH is not true

(Patria) - The Croatian Security-Intelligence Agency published its annual report on security conditions. Among other things, they state that in the southeastern neighborhood of Croatia, which includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, several stabilization processes are taking place that affect the overall political and security situation in the regional environment. 

The report states that enclaves still exist in BiH, "where the state of BiH is absent" and which are controlled by others, namely Islamic extremists, and Professor Jasmin Ahić from the Faculty of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Security Studies told N1 that this statement is not true at all.

"It is clear that SOA has softened its rhetoric towards BiH in this year's report. After a series of scandals caused by certain issues that were also known to international officials, primarily partners in the fight against terrorism, the claim that there are enclaves where the state of BiH cannot control with its legal police-intelligence aspects is absolutely not true, and the state of BiH has shown that. This is a problem for the Republic of Croatia, which does not have a problem with terrorism on the ground and has taken on the role of covering certain issues in Southeast Europe, primarily BiH. I think it would be concrete if there was a correct relationship from the state level. We need to cooperate, build good relations, and do everything that is good for the anti-terrorist coalition, and all partners say so, from the State Department to NATO, that BiH is the best partner, so that is not true," Ahić emphasized.

The 2017 report spoke of 10,000 Islamic terrorists who were listed as a threat, and Ahić said that this is again a situation where an attempt is being made to cover up a certain segment in the fight against terrorism, because, as he pointed out, Croatia has withdrawn significant funds in that segment of the anti-terrorist coalition.

"This is the basic rule that should not be followed - meaning terrorists should not be created where there are none. Croatia tried to use this external security segment for political purposes and allowed one thing, which is to play on the territory of other countries, and then in the end had to cover up such a mistake in this way. A partnership is the only good relationship and it should be built," he said.

Regarding the returnees from the Syrian battlefield, specifically 136 of them, of whom 12 are ISIL fighters, and the rest are women and children, Ahić said that all returns went smoothly, which speaks to the work of the Intelligence-Security Agency, as well as other police agencies.

He also emphasized that the state of BiH not only controls this problem but is also a leader in this field.

Regarding the cooperation between BiH and Croatia, he said that the things being implemented on the ground are public.

"BiH continues to work within the anti-terrorist coalition in the way it has done so far. Croatia has this problem now due to what has happened, but with good leadership of the Intelligence-Security Agency that is now in place in BiH and with good leadership, these things can be brought to an even higher level. The cooling is visible, but we are two partner, two neighboring countries, and it is in all our interests for Croatia to be that correct neighboring country that will dictate processes with a partnership approach towards BiH. Whenever that relationship is disrupted, BiH will respond as it should," Ahić emphasized.