DF: 2,500 new police officers to be recruited into the active police force in FBiH

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Democratic Front has already made statements in the past few days regarding the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Police and Internal Affairs of the Republic of Srpska, which strictly relates to the establishment of a reserve police force in the Republic of Srpska, but we will repeat it. We once again warn international institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily the Office of the High Representative, the European Commission, the OSCE, and the accredited missions of the PIC member states in Bosnia and Herzegovina that this move represents a gross violation of Annex 1 and 11 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH, in the sense that all parties to the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina undertook to disband all forces except for police forces approved by IPTF in BiH. By that decision, the reserve force had to be disbanded in all police agencies by the end of the certification process in 2002, the DF announced.

"We also remind that from the perspective of the European Union's legal order, such a procedure has been 'assessed as inapplicable'. If this anti-Dayton activity of the authorities of the Republic of Srpska, which is also contrary to European practice, passes without an adequate reaction in terms of promptly stopping the activities on adopting amendments to this law, we will be forced to initiate the adoption of a law for the area of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well, but one that will be in accordance with the Dayton Agreement. If, as planned, 1,000 police officers are recruited into the reserve police force of RS, then 2,500 police officers should be recruited into the Federation reciprocally. This does not mean that we are unaware of the fact that the European average number of police officers in EU countries is 318 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants, and that the current average in BiH is above that, i.e., 436 police officers per the same number of inhabitants. We are also aware that the mentioned increase in police forces in both entities by 3,500 officers would increase the total number of police officers to an average of over 450 per 100,000 inhabitants and would cause financial expenditures of tens of millions of KM for equipping, training, and engaging forces.

We believe, based on experiences from the early nineties, that an adequate response must be given with the same or similar measures, so that we do not face the consequences from the aforementioned period, with the difference that we would not do it by violating the Dayton Agreement, but based on a security assessment, we would recruit 2,500 active police officers, which is acceptable in terms of European legal acquis.

Finally, we still believe that the money that would be allocated for new police forces would be better spent on assisting social categories of society, youth, pensioners, workers, and the unemployed, and that efforts should be made to reduce the number of police officers to the European average, but with better equipment, salaries, and training that would create a safer environment for both life and new investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It must be clear to everyone that the priority of all priorities at this moment is the survival and security of the citizens and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Whoever does not see this is either 'blind despite their eyes' or is working to destroy BiH.