CITIZEN SAFETY IS NOT IMPORTANT The only certainty is that HDZ controls the HNK Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is why every problem is satisfactory!

The security situation in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton is “satisfactory”. At least that's what the leadership of the HNK Ministry of Internal Affairs claims after a quarter marked by murders, an attempted murder, brutal attacks by masked individuals, an increase in public order and peace violations, and a 56 percent rise in traffic accidents. If this is the definition of security, then citizens have every reason to be concerned.

Because, for whom is the situation actually satisfactory? Do we need to mention that mostly Bosniaks are attacked, and the perpetrators are rarely or never found. They only get misdemeanor charges!

For citizens who witness violence, confrontations, and insecurity daily, nothing is "satisfactory".

It is obviously only satisfactory for institutions that have been trying to cover up the real situation on the ground with statistics for years. In a country where the public is told "there is no need to panic" after every serious crime, it has become more important to control the narrative than the security situation.

They also nicely criticized journalists at the press conference, because they publish before the official data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrives!? They say that's not good! And if we waited for them, we wouldn't have any information at all.

Of course, there is operational information that should not be public, but invoking "media pressure" often serves as an excuse for slowness, lack of transparency, and absence of accountability. The public has the right to know what is happening, especially when institutions have been assuring citizens for years that the system is stable while the number of incidents is increasing.

So, Minister Marijo Marić says that "premature conclusions" should not be drawn. But citizens do not draw conclusions based on social media or 'false' media reports, but on the facts of two murders, an attempted murder in the middle of Mostar, physical assaults, an increase in criminal offenses with unknown perpetrators, and a constant feeling that violence is being normalized. It should be especially emphasized that the attacks are mostly inspired by national intolerance, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is controlled by the HDZ, does not mention this!

Behind bureaucratic phrases about "isolated cases" lies a fundamental problem: the security apparatus only reacts when something happens. Preventive work practically does not exist or is not visible. The police system cannot be judged as successful simply because a suspect was found after a murder.

The essence of security is that citizens feel protected before a crime occurs, that no one will attack them because they are wearing a Velež or Iskra jersey, or national symbols!

To make the paradox even greater, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also boasts that its work is "duly performed" despite staff shortages. But this is precisely the question that has remained unanswered for years: why has the system been brought to a state of personnel collapse?

Why is the recruitment of 200 cadets only being discussed now, when hundreds of police officers have retired?

A satisfactory security situation may exist in reports and conference rooms. On the streets of Stolac, Mostar, Čapljina, and other towns in the HNK, citizens see something completely different: a system that is mostly lagging behind problems and institutions that are more concerned with protecting their own image and the political party that appointed them, than with the sense of security of the people they are supposed to protect.

Because if two murders, an attempted murder, and the rise of violence are indicators of "stability," then it is clear that the only thing under control is actually the Ministry of Internal Affairs. And we know under whose control, Dragan Čović's and the HDZ BiH.