Communications Regulatory Agency Council takes office, what will happen with director appointment: Only Draško Milinović applied for the position

By Amra Vrabac

In July this year, the mandate of the Director of the Communications Regulatory Agency of BiH, Draško Milinović, expired, and although a tender was announced to which only one envelope arrived, the process of electing a new director has not been completed.

The previous CRA Council, which operated with only four members, did not finish this job, and this open issue is now before the new composition of the CRA Council, which held its constitutive session on October 31. The new CRA Council consists of Iza Razija Mešević, Tomislav Volarić, Tanja Andrić, Vjekoslav Čerkez, Damir Šehanović, Alma Čolo, and Zoran Žuža.

Iza Razija Mešević was elected Chairperson of the Council, and Tomislav Volarić was elected Vice-Chairperson.

This tender was not formally discussed at that session, and members of the previous Council unofficially informed them that the process of electing the director is now their task. Director Milinović, who reapplied for the director position, also attended this session.

The CRA Council conducts the procedure of interviewing candidates and proposes the Director General to the Council of Ministers of BiH, which ultimately appoints him. If the new CRA Council completes the initiated procedure, the decision on whether to ultimately appoint Milinović rests with the Council of Ministers of BiH.

Milinović is an SNSD cadre, and during his mandate, spouses and family members of SNSD cadres were employed at the CRA. At the constitutive session itself, as some members of the CRA Council conveyed to us, it was stated that the director's position is a "Serb position". Some members close to the SNSD stated that they would "check the situation" and whether there were any changes. However, at this moment, it is almost impossible to annul the previous tender as there is no legal basis for it. Until then, Milinović continues to perform the function of director, regardless of his mandate having expired.

The Communications Regulatory Agency has very important responsibilities prescribed by the Law on Communications: creating and promoting rules in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors, licensing operators in the broadcasting and telecommunications sectors, planning, managing, and allocating the frequency spectrum, applying technical and other standards related to quality, and establishing and maintaining a system of permit fees.

Although it is one of the most important institutions due to the authority it has in media operations, the parties of the 'trojka' have never clearly stated their position on the CRA, while some current actors in power, as opposition members, were quite vocal in 2020 when Milinović was a candidate for the first time.

The head of the SDP, Nermin Nikšić, appealed in 2020 as a state parliamentarian not to appoint Milinović, stating that this position was politicized and that many private media outlets would be endangered. He then informed all international missions in BiH, the OHR, and the EU Delegation. Incidentally, Milinović is the former director of RTRs, and upon taking over the CRA, fines that were previously imposed in large monetary amounts for various reasons suddenly ceased for this entity public service.

However, today the leaders of the 'trojka' parties are silent about the CRA and the top position, so it is clear that Dodik can count on this position as well, even though, for example, SNSD also appointed the director of the Institute of Metrology, Milica Ristović Krstić. Zijad Džemić previously held that position.

If both of these institutions remain in the hands of SNSD, powerful tools for dealing with "unsuitable TV stations" will be under control.

However, now everything is in the hands of the Council of Ministers of BiH when the CRA Council submits a proposal for the appointment of the CRA Director.