Positions of Serbs and Croats undisputed, Bosniaks indecisive!

The distribution of leadership positions in state-level security agencies has stirred up a political battle in the last few days, especially within the so-called Bosniak corpus, the BH News Agency Patria (NAP) has learned.

Namely, the newly appointed Independent Body, whose job is to appoint directors of police agencies, is preparing to hold its constitutive session on Friday, but it is still unclear who will occupy the vacant positions, especially those belonging to Bosniaks, NAP has learned.

"The hunt is on" for the influential positions of the Director of the BiH Border Police and their deputy, then the Director of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH and their deputy, and the Deputy Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA).

As we have learned, despite an attempt to agree on a rotation of positions among the constituent peoples, this has been abandoned, so the distribution of positions will most likely remain the same – a Bosniak will head the Directorate for Police Coordination, and a Croat will be the Director of the Border Police, Serbs will get the position of Deputy Director of the Directorate for Police Coordination, Bosniaks will get the position of deputy in the BP BiH, and finally, Croats will get the position of Deputy Director of SIPA.

The most uncertain, as we have learned from well-informed sources, will be the race for the position from which Himzo Selimović is withdrawing, who decided to withdraw his candidacy due to the burning of the BiH Presidency building. Among the 20 applicants for all positions, eight are Bosniaks.

The highest chances for Selimović's position are held by Mirsad Vilić, current head of the Special Unit in SIPA, and Mustafa Hajrulahović, chief inspector in the Federal Police Administration (FUP). Besides them, Zijad Srbović, Fahrudin Bećirović, Jusuf Zornić, Ensad Koroman, Meho Delić, and Enes Gačanin are in the running. This last one is most likely the new-old Deputy Director of the BiH Border Police.

However, according to NAP sources within the new Independent Body, Bosniak representatives in that body have no interlocutors among political leaders.

- All candidates have similar references and there are no outstanding ones, so nuances will be decisive. It would be good for the Bosniak structures to get more involved in this process – a source told us. It is interesting that Selimović withdrew his application only for the position of Director of the Directorate for Police Coordination, and he remains a candidate for the position of deputy in the Border Police. 

On the other hand, it is almost certain that Uroš Pena will once again take the position of deputy in the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH, and that Marko Dominković will remain in the position of deputy to Goran Zubac in SIPA.

However, the battle is being waged over the position of Vinko Dumančić's successor in the BP BiH. This is an institution with a large number of employees and one of the most important state institutions.

As we have learned, the most serious candidates are Zoran Galić, current police commissioner of the West Herzegovina Canton, and Mile Jurić, current deputy to Himzo Selimović. According to the plan of the new Independent Body, interviews with candidates will begin only after April 1st of this year, and the appointment is confirmed by the Council of Ministers of BiH. The Independent Body creates the list, and the proposal for appointment comes from the Ministry of Security of BiH.