Kovačević: I don't know why Bosniak politicians are letting Serbs solve the ISIL problem in BiH

Goran Kovačević, a lecturer at the Faculty of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Security Studies in Sarajevo, told Federal Television's Dnevnik 3 that BiH has a big problem with radicals, who are recruited in BiH and then leave for foreign battlefields.

Given that the largest number of them go to the Syrian battlefields, Kovačević considers Bosniak politicians responsible for solving this problem, who, for some reason, he says, remain silent all the time, leaving someone else to solve this problem instead of them, which puts all peoples in BiH at a disadvantage.

The Patria News Agency is relaying Kovačević's interview in its entirety:

FTV: We saw arrests across Macedonia of individuals linked to ISIL. How do you comment on that?

Kovačević: That is commendable, and it shows that the Macedonian security services are doing their job. I saw from media reports that a mosque outside the control of the Islamic Community of Macedonia was searched. So, someone did their job, investigated where the hotbed was, where there was a recruitment center for ISIL. This action, in my opinion, is very good.

FTV: It is clear that security services are scrutinizing such individuals after Kumanovo?

Kovačević: Clearly, Kumanovo was a surprise for the security services, as no one expected an attack of such intensity.

FTV: How do you assess the Macedonian security services?

Kovačević: Well, I think they are acting more preventively now. They acted on information, because I doubt that in such a strained situation between Albanians and Macedonians, someone would act abruptly without well-verified information regarding those suspected of recruiting people for ISIL.

FTV: This is indeed a global problem; we recently had the attack in Zvornik, and the fragmentation of our security apparatus was also evident. How to combat such situations?

Kovačević: Well, I would now give a more detailed explanation. Generally, the ideology of ISIL is a very bad abuse of religion, namely Islam. We in BiH have a problem stemming from general political disarray, and we have not yet accepted that the presence of ISIL in BiH is a reality. I have information that nearly 1,000 people from BiH were in the Syrian battlefield during different periods. Our law enforcement agencies do not have such data. There was once a round table on this topic, and it was pointed out that 130 people were in the Syrian battlefield, which is a big difference.

So, what those people bring back here is another question, how to act, because they are citizens of BiH after all.

The system must react, because this problem cannot be cut off. It is important to emphasize that this is generally our vital national interest, and also a vital problem for the Bosniak community. Therefore, Bosniak politicians must take an active role, create space, help the security system, and ultimately place Bosniak personnel in leadership positions who should confront and solve this problem.

We do not have such a situation in BiH. We have a situation where Bosniaks generally shy away from this problem. I don't know why they are doing it. I have a feeling that their goal is to later point fingers and say that a Serb was at the head of that agency, he didn't know how to do his job, it wasn't our fault.

A problem is being created in the country, and this is a big problem for BiH. All hands are ultimately pointed at BiH. We have isolated facilities that are not under the supervision of the Islamic Community of BiH, but no one is paying attention to that.

FTV: Can we speak in a regional context, given that ISIL is currently threatening the execution of a Croatian citizen in Cairo?

Kovačević: The problem is indeed regional. All countries in the region share a common past, and we have the same culture and language. We have many social connections that are not formalized. So, there isn't one system that monitors these groups, but rather a fragmented security system. We have Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, and Macedonian systems that perhaps do not cooperate as they should at some level.

There are some animosities from the past; after all, there was a war, so people don't trust each other, but this is a social problem and must be addressed as such.

FTV: How to resolve these animosities?

Kovačević: Well, currently, I think political will would be key to solving this problem, but we cannot expect that. We cannot talk about political will to solve such a problem. Perhaps in neighboring countries, but we cannot expect it from ourselves.