Union of Police Bodies in BiH Responds to Kojović: You Are Presenting Incorrect Data, You Have Not Considered Our Views

(Patria) - The Union of Police Bodies in BiH reacted to the statements of state representative Predrag Kojović on N1 where he spoke about the Proposed Amendments to the Law on Police Officers of BiH. Kojović, along with representatives Jasmin Imamović and Nihad Omerović, suddenly proposed amendments to the law, and due to the reactions that followed in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly, neither the urgent nor the shortened procedure was supported, so it will go through the regular procedure.

However, the Union of Police Bodies in BiH still maintains that the proposed amendments are unacceptable, and they have once again clarified that they were not consulted as unions and their views were not taken into account.

In a statement, they reject Kojović's unfounded and incorrect positions regarding the Law on Police Officers of BiH.

"Regarding the proposal itself, although we were supposed to be consulted in accordance with the Law on Labor in BiH Institutions and the provisions of the collective agreement, we learned about the draft amendments and additions to the Law on Police Officers of BiH 'under the table' from the proposers, which the proposers later submitted to the parliamentary procedure. The draft was not on the website of the House of Representatives of the BiH PA, i.e., on the agenda itself, but was supposed to be supplemented at the collegium immediately before the session, which would have avoided any discussion or conversation about the law itself. Why this was the case is not a question for the unions, but for the proposers. After media pressure from the unions, we were invited for a meeting attended by the proposers and the presidents of all unions operating within the Union of Police Bodies in BiH, as well as the president of the Union of Police Bodies in BiH, where we clearly and unanimously stated that the then-proposal did not have the support of any union.

It was agreed that the next meeting would be held in a very short period, and that the sole representative union, the Union of Police Bodies in BiH, would be the holder of all activities related to this, where attempts would be made to harmonize views and find a common solution.

'At the second meeting, attended by the proposers and representatives of the Union of Police Bodies in BiH, no agreement was reached, so the Union of Police Bodies in BiH did the only thing it could, which was to not give consent to the law proposal itself because the membership was not satisfied with the proposal without considering other important matters that would solve the burning problems we are facing. As for the statement that no one had proposals, we remind Mr. Kojović of act SGP BiH 868/23 from December 2023, which was sent on behalf of SGP BiH because we recognized the issues that all police agencies would face at that time and which was sent to all delegates in both Houses of the BiH Parliament, as well as to all ministers in the BiH Council of Ministers.

In January 2024, an almost identical act was sent on behalf of the Union of Police Bodies in BiH, which was jointly agreed upon with all unions within the Union of Police Bodies in BiH, to all the aforementioned addresses, and the question is what was waited for two years without any reaction from those who should think about us,' the statement reads.

A working group was also formed at the beginning of 2025, which harmonized the articles of the amendments and additions to the Law on Police Officers of BiH, and submitted the draft amendments and additions to this law to the relevant ministry, which never saw the light of day.

'Therefore, the thesis that no one gave or has been giving solutions related to this issue makes no sense. The question arises whether some individuals should have gone into deserved retirement for this issue to be initiated, which is again not a question for the unions. Also, Mr. Kojović stated that he made a compromise in such a way that 20% applies to management staff and 80% to all others, but when asked to what number this would apply, i.e., to the total number or the number of those who meet the conditions for retirement, he did not know or did not want to answer. At the very least, it is a malicious union-busting by Mr. Kojović, where the statement that none of the 4 unions are talking to anyone is incorrect, because he should know that the Union of Police Bodies in BiH is the only representative body for negotiations with the employer, and we must remind him that all decisions at the Management Board of the Union of Police Bodies in BiH were made unanimously, and we do not understand such a stance and attitude towards the unions. It is normal to have different opinions, which is the principle of democratic decision-making, but Mr. Kojović is not the one who has the exclusive right to interpret our positions and opinions. The positions of most politicians that unions are someone who always has different views from politicians are absurd, but the question is how seriously many political entities take the views of unions, except when we represent only what is in the interest of our membership. We have already refuted platitudes like 'no one submitted anything,' but in order to have any discussion, you must invite us and present your proposals, to which we will, as before, respond and give our opinions and our proposals, which are certainly in the interest of our members as well as all employees in our agencies,' it is stated.

They further deny and state that 600 police officers will retire in 2026.

'According to the data from our colleagues from the SIPA Union and official data, that number is 450. Therefore, it is unclear to us where and who provided Mr. Kojović with this data and why this number is being casually increased. Of course, the unions are not against the amendments and additions to the Law on Police Officers of BiH, but our demands must be considered, and finally, unions should be taken as social partners when adopting all legal and sub-legal documents, as is the case in neighboring countries and the EU. As long as political entities in BiH consider unions in this and such a way, they will face resistance like the one we have provided so far. We have not heard any political entity comment on the adoption of the budget for 2026, although deadlines are passing, nor on the amendments and additions to the Law on Salaries and Allowances in BiH Institutions, which has passed the House of Representatives but awaits a decision in the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, which is a priority for us,' they concluded.