Tirak: Top BiH officials silent on airport and Serbian plunder of BiH

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The meeting of delegations from the Directorate of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Serbia and the Directorate of Civil Aviation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHDCA), held on September 16, is attracting attention for several reasons, according to aviation expert Rifat Tirak.

"The first reason is that the public is very rarely informed about meetings at the highest level of these state institutions. The second is that there are no legal agreements between the two countries, and our country has been paying Serbia millions of convertible marks for years for unconstitutional and undefined control of BiH airspace," Tirak told Patria.

According to him, it is particularly interesting that the highest positions (director and two deputies) in the Civil Aviation Directorate of Bosnia and Herzegovina are held by acting officials, which raises the question of the seriousness of any agreements made at such meetings.

"Unfortunately, this situation of acting directors in BHDCA has lasted for more than a year. The reason for this is a law adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH in the previous convocation (House of Representatives at its 56th session on January 31, 2018, and the House of Peoples at its 37th session on April 17 of the same year). This is the law on the election of directors and deputy directors with a completely false justification. Namely, according to this law, only in BHDCA are the director and two deputies elected without age restrictions, meaning over 65 years old, which does not apply to all other institutions and civil servants," Tirak points out.

This aviation expert explains that, to say the least, it is "paradoxical that the justification states that this law should be passed in order to enable the election of top positions in BHDCA, just like in all other directorates in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

"A law passed like this with a clearly false explanation is unique to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, the published topics that were discussed also attract attention from the aforementioned meeting. It is truly strange that the construction of an airport near Trebinje was discussed, which is the exclusive jurisdiction of BHDCA. It is unknown whether the construction of this airport, which will cross the state border of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is planned. Only in that case should and must we discuss this topic with the responsible parties from the Directorate of the Republic of Serbia," says Tirak.

He notes that the above "does not attract the attention of the highest BiH officials and institutions at all."

"It is good that some individuals are interested, who, using legal possibilities, are asking appropriate questions. It will be very interesting to see the answers to some of the questions asked," Tirak said in a statement to Patria.
Otherwise, Tirak expects answers from the Council of Ministers of BiH as to whether the violation of BiH's sovereignty and territorial integrity through Serbian military radars was discussed at the meeting, and what the jurisdiction of the Serbian Directorate will be over the airport announced in Trebinje.