Nešić threatens: If there is no agreement on the SIPA director, there will be no other appointments in BiH

(Patria) - The Collegium of the Council of Ministers of BiH refused to include on the agenda of today's session the item on the appointment of Slobodan Radinković as the new director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA).

Against the inclusion of this item on the agenda were the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Borjana Krišto and her deputy and Minister of Defense of BiH Zukan Helez.

Minister of Security of BiH Nenad Nešić did not like this at all, so in his address to reporters after the session he openly threatened - "if there is no agreement on the SIPA director, there will be no other appointments in BiH".

- Unfortunately, that was not acceptable to them. We have a situation where someone is trying to decapitate SIPA at a time when the current director's mandate has expired, and when the deputy director (Zoran Galić, ed.) is abroad, that is, on the run.

The question arises why someone is doing this. What Helez said is not true. There is no adequate and real information that Radinković is a member of any criminal milieu.

Radinković has access to "classified" information, which he obtained in 2021, and therefore has passed all security checks, and as a candidate for SIPA director, he had to pass all these checks and submit documentation - stated Nešić, as reported by N1.

He then asked whether people would be eliminated "because of some newspaper articles"?

- Because someone does not want him to be director or in some other position, and then, based on connections in media houses, tries to criminalize him in some way.

Radinković meets all the conditions, and I believe this is neither correct nor fair because he is the proposal of the Serbian people, to whom the position of SIPA director belongs, and it is up to the Ministry of Security of BiH to propose a candidate - added Nešić.

He also responded to Helez, who asked why Radinković, who was third-placed, was proposed for SIPA director?

- I want to say that Darko Ćulum, who currently serves as SIPA director, was second-ranked when he was appointed to that position, and before him, Perica Stanić was third-ranked.

Namely, the law leaves the discretionary right to the Minister of Security to propose one of his own from the list of successful candidates. Obviously, all three candidates are good, but I used my discretionary right.

I saw that Radinković has been in service his entire life, that he can contribute to SIPA. And finally, Radinković is the agreed candidate of the Serbian people - emphasizes Nešić.

He explains that at the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, he saw that all three ministers from the RS were in favor of appointing Radinković.

- I would not engage now in media speculation about which faction prevailed where, but I only know that all ministers from the RS agreed that it should be Radinković, who is also the candidate of the Serbian people.

Radinković was not placed on the agenda. This means that he is still a candidate, and we will persist in this, but if no agreement is reached, this leads to a blockade of certain decisions of the Council of Ministers.

If the issue of the SIPA director is not resolved, we will not have the appointment of anyone in BiH - Nešić threatened at the end of his address.