Europol contact point to remain for the new BiH Council of Ministers

By Amina Čorbo-Zećo

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It is still uncertain when Bosnia and Herzegovina will get a new Council of Ministers of BiH, but it is evident that this Council of Ministers in technical mandate will not resolve some of the key issues and that the new convocation will receive several hot topics for consideration.

One of them is resolving the issue of cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina and EUROPOL. It has been confirmed from several sources within the Council of Ministers that this problem will not be resolved in this mandate. The problem is that the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska, an entity in BiH, refuses to allow the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies to be the central contact point of Bosnia and Herzegovina with EUROPOL.

“The opposition from the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska has been the main reason for postponing this issue for over two years, although it was clearly established that the contact point should be there (DKPT) where the conditions exist, where there is good practice, professionals, and where it is the only logical place for that point to be, which is DKPT BiH, and not any cantonal or entity Ministry of Interior,” Denis Zvizdić, Speaker of the Council of Ministers, said earlier.

There have been fears for some time that the BiH agreement with EUROPOL could be terminated, as EUROPOL has been waiting for two years for the appointment of a contact person for cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, this will not happen, as BiH has been a good partner to both Interpol and Europol so far. These agencies have been exchanging information with agencies in BiH without hindrance to date.

The Minister of Security of BiH, Dragan Mektić, is one of those who are against the DKPT being the contact point for the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska. On the other hand, this institution is of the opinion that the Directorate is the only technically capable body for data exchange with relevant international agencies, and that the contact point for cooperation between BiH and EUROPOL should certainly be located within the Directorate.

The Law on the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies from 2008 established the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH, as an administrative organization within the Ministry of Security of BiH with operational independence, founded to perform tasks within its jurisdiction.

The Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH, within which the Sector for International Operational Police Cooperation is located, represents a single point for information exchange at the strategic and operational level within the framework of conducting international investigations. It achieves international police cooperation, thereby ensuring, implementing, and improving cooperation between domestic police, judicial, and other bodies with related bodies of countries around the world, applying best practices. Cooperation is achieved with INTERPOL, EUROPOL, SELEC, and other international bodies, in accordance with signed agreements.