Ivica Bošnjak, the minister who isn't: Protecting the interests of HDZ and SNSD, in whose hands is the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina

By Amra Vrabac

The Ministry of Security of BiH has been managed by Deputy Minister Ivica Bošnjak for a year. Since the arrest of former minister Nenad Nešić in December 2024, Bošnjak has taken over all duties. Thus, HDZ BiH has had a ministerial position more in the Council of Ministers of BiH for a year, even though they already have the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Borjana Krišto, as well as the Minister of Justice (Davor Bunoza) and Minister of Civil Affairs (Dubravka Bošnjak).

Although Krišto attempted to carry out the procedure for appointing Goran Selak as Minister of Security in agreement with SNSD in early March 2025, Selak withdrew from further proceedings himself after certain compromising revelations. Krišto never acted on the request of five parliamentary clubs in the PS BiH and appointed Nebojša Vukanović (List for Justice and Order). She justified this by stating that SNSD is a coalition partner and that, according to the valid agreement, that position belongs to that political option. Given that the Trojka parties, nor the opposition, would support the appointment of a new minister from SNSD, an agreement was clearly made between Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik for Ivica Bošnjak to remain in the position. There were even no accusations from RS that a position in the Council of Ministers of BiH was stolen from them, while the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Elmedin Konaković went a step further, stating that the Council of Ministers of BiH is unconstitutional because it does not have three Serbs.

The good cooperation between HDZ and SNSD is also evident in the case of Darko Ćulum's escape from SIPA on political orders and at Dodik's request, when the Deputy Minister of Security of BiH tried to convince the public that there were no delays in SIPA's work. Also, by clear agreement of these two parties, Bošnjak did not insist that the Council of Ministers of BiH declare itself on the ranking list for the Director of SIPA, which has been in the Ministry since August 2024. If there is no agreement on any name (Darko Ćulum, Ljubiša Pandurević, Slobodan Radinković), then the competition should have been repeated. This way, Ćulum remained untouched and has been out of mandate for a second year, and after a four-month resignation which he withdrew and returned to the position of SIPA Director. Instead of sanctions and dismissal, Ćulum is now issuing retirement decisions, mostly for Bosniak staff.

The Trojka parties have not distinguished themselves in this case either, and they are no longer commenting on Ćulum. Moreover, they have taken the stance that Ćulum is better than the remaining two candidates on the list!

The fact that the situation in the security sector is already alarming is also shown by the decrease in employees in three state police agencies, as well as the damaged national balance. Although security should be his primary task, Bošnjak remained silent on the demands of police unions and discussions about burning issues that are now being rushed through with bad amendments to the Law on Police Officers of BiH. In the year since he has been managing the Ministry, he has never received representatives of the BiH Police Unions. He unofficially told them that he couldn't help them anyway, except that they could take a picture. He did not specify whether it was next to the flag of the so-called Herceg Bosna, which is in his office, or elsewhere.

Even more damning is the fact that the draft Law on Police Officers of BiH, in which Bošnjak himself participated in its drafting, is in the Ministry of Security of BiH. Why he has not taken it out of the drawer and put it before the Council of Ministers of BiH until today, only he knows the answer.

The outflow of staff, the retirement of a large number of police officers, and the lengthy procedures for admitting cadets into three state agencies have not been the focus of Ivica Bošnjak's interest.

He did not even comment on the proposed amendments to the Law on Police Officers of BiH, which will not solve the staffing problem. Instead of Bošnjak being the voice of reason and proposing solutions that would enable greater capacity for the Agency for Training Cadres, seeking an increase in the number of admitted cadets, it seems that these three state police agencies are left to the ravages of time. The fight against organized crime and terrorism, border protection, and the fight against all types of crime depend on the will of honorable police officers who do their job honestly, even though they are the least paid compared to all other police officers in BiH.

And if police officers want to complain about decisions, they have no one to turn to, because the BiH Police Officers' Appeals Committee has been without a committee for two months.