How the Troika Surrendered the Security Sector to HDZ and SNSD?

The parties of the Troika at the state level, SDP, Our Party, People and Justice, have completely failed when it comes to the security sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Thus, in this mandate of the Council of Ministers of BiH, SIPA Director Darko Ćulum left his position at the invitation of the authorities of the RS entity and Milorad Dodik and moved to the RS MUP, and without any sanction returned to work four months later.

Instead of insisting on Ćulum's dismissal, whose mandate expired in July 2024 anyway, the Troika agreed to appoint Deputy Director Dragan Andrić, a cadre close to HDZ, while SIPA remained without the majority of Bosniak managerial staff. Even within the Troika itself, according to Patria's information, a chaotic situation prevails because certain cadres finally see and warn about the scale of the disaster they have produced with their decisions.

Today, only two Bosniaks remain in SIPA with the rank of chief inspector, and one of them will retire in July. Darko Ćulum does not want to announce a competition, and the helpless Troika does not even clearly articulate such a request.

While Ćulum was systematically retiring Bosniak cadres from SIPA, certain currents within the SDP envisioned Vahidin Šahinpašić for the position of Deputy Director of the Federal Police Administration. In the end, the plan succeeded, so the FUP got new leadership, with Igor Marić as director and Šahinpašić as deputy. It was precisely the appointment of Šahinpašić that caused a tremor within the SDP because some high-ranking cadres were not even consulted about this appointment.

Since the establishment of SIPA, Bosniaks have never been in a worse situation, decimated in terms of personnel, and positions once held by Bosniaks are now being filled by cadres predominantly from the Serb community.

Although there is a ranking list of candidates for the position of SIPA director, this appointment has never been placed on the agenda.

When Milorad Dodik once said that he got everything he wanted from the Troika, and that "it wasn't easy with the SDA", it quickly became clear what exactly he meant.

In the OSA, Dodik's cadre Risto Zarić returned, while the Troika is still struggling over Almir Džuvo.

During the mandate of this Council of Ministers of BiH, HDZ cadre Zoran Galić fled arrest to Croatia. The Council of Ministers of BiH did not dismiss him either, but relieved him "at his own request" only a few months after his escape.

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH announced that an indictment will be filed in this case by the end of the year, concerning the period when Galić was at the head of the Border Police of BiH. This is a police agency sovereignly managed by another cadre close to HDZ, Mirko Kuprešaković.

When Darko Ćulum returned from the RS MUP to SIPA on July 14, 2025, the ministers of the Troika suddenly fell silent. Thus, today SIPA is sovereignly ruled by Ćulum and Andrić, while Bosniaks are casting lots over whether there will be a competition for ranks.

The Troika remained completely silent also regarding the mono-ethnic delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Security of BiH, Ivica Bošnjak (HDZ), to France. Bošnjak "accidentally" placed all Croats from seven different security agencies and ministries of internal affairs on the passenger list.

Regarding the fact that HDZ has one more position in the Council of Ministers of BiH, the informal leader of the Troika, Elmedin Konaković, has two opinions: first, that the Council of Ministers of BiH is unconstitutional because it does not have three Serbs, and second, that this way "one position was taken away from the Serbs".

It is clear why cadres from SNSD do not complain, because Staša Košarac or Srđan Amidžić are enough for any kind of blockade, while with HDZ they balance desires and needs when it comes to the security sector. This example shows the partnership that Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik have spoken about and continue to speak about, and which they do not renounce.

And the cadres of the Troika are neither a match for that partnership nor do they have a plan on how to oppose it.