Independent Board of BiH Parliament has not yet announced a competition: Dodik does not want to lose control, Ćulum cannot remain head of SIPA

(Patria) - The Independent Board of the BiH Parliament was supposed to hold a session on April 26, but not a single member of the Independent Board from the Serb people appeared. The last session of the Independent Board was held on March 19.

Given that the mandate of the Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), Darko Ćulum, expires in July, the Independent Board is obliged to announce a competition three months before the expiry of the mandate. However, less than three months remain until the expiry of the mandate, and the competition for the director of SIPA has not been announced.

According to Patria's information, by not attending the session, members of the Independent Board are buying Ćulum additional time in this position, given that Milorad Dodik and Nenad Nešić cannot agree on who will replace Ćulum. Nešić has several of his friends he would like to see at the head of SIPA, while Dodik does not want to lose the control he has had since the agency's inception. The law is clear. Ćulum will remain in office until a new director is appointed, regardless of the expiry of his mandate. Given that he meets the requirements for retirement, he cannot be elected for a second term.

Last week, Ćulum visited Belgrade, where he met with the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Bratislav Gašić. They discussed the continuation of cooperation in the fight against preventing illegal migration, human trafficking, and organized crime.

Although the BiH Border Police is the main agency for preventing illegal migration, with assistance from SIPA, DKPT, and the MUP RS with a certain number of police officers, there was no place for the Director of the BiH Border Police, Mirko Kuprešaković, at that meeting.

Ćulum could have brought the Deputy Director of SIPA, Zoran Galić, who is the former director of the BiH Border Police. However, he did not do that either.

Thus, Gašić discussed with Ćulum the joint fight against illegal migration, especially considering that the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as transit countries, are under pressure from mass migrations, and added that the cooperation of competent services is key to preserving the security of citizens of both countries.

Incidentally, in the next year or two, there will be a massive outflow of personnel from the three state police agencies due to retirements, so the recruitment of younger staff should be carried out now.