Influential Denis Hirn to be New Inck's Deputy

US Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan Denis Hirn will be the new First Deputy High Representative in BiH and Supervisor for Brčko, Nezavisne novine have learned, reports NAP.

The current First Deputy of Valentin Incko, American diplomat Bruce Berton, will take over as Head of the OSCE Mission in BiH from Jonathan Moore.

According to Nezavisne's findings, Hirn is expected to arrive in BiH at the end of October or the beginning of November this year. Hirn has previously served in BiH, from 1993 to 1996 as Political Advisor to the first American Ambassador Victor Jakovich, served in Croatia, speaks local languages, and from 1996 to 1998 was engaged by the Hague Tribunal.

He also had dealings with our region while serving as an official in the Bureau of European Affairs at the State Department.

"He is a very strong candidate who was a collaborator of Thomas Shannon, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs at the State Department. This confirms that the US administration wants to send an influential diplomat to BiH," a source close to American diplomacy told "Nezavisne".

Before taking up his post as Deputy Chief of Mission in Afghanistan, Hirn was a senior advisor to Shannon, who is currently the third-highest-ranking official at the State Department, after Secretary Rex Tillerson and his deputy John Sullivan. The unnamed source further claims that one of the reasons for his arrival is the fact that Hirn has extensive experience in combating violent extremism and terrorism, which is also confirmed by his official biography on the State Department website.

"From 2012 to 2015, Hirn was a foreign affairs advisor to the US Army Special Operations Command. He served two years in Afghanistan, from 2008 to 2009 as Political Advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of US and Allied Forces in Eastern Afghanistan, and from 2007 to 2008 he was an advisor to combat forces in the southeastern provinces near the Pakistani border," his official biography states.

It is also interesting that in 2013, Hirn received a presidential promotion that gave him a position equivalent to a one-star US Army general. Given that he also speaks Portuguese, Hirn served in Portugal for many years, as well as in the US mission in Brazil, where, among other things, he held positions such as Consul General in Rio de Janeiro and Political Consul at the embassy in Brasilia.

He was born in North Carolina and began his diplomatic service in 1985. He is an expert on national security issues and has been awarded high State Department honors seven times. The US Army awarded him for outstanding civilian service during his military service.