MINUTES REVEAL Three-Party Ministers Supported SIPA Deputy Director Appointment Without Discussion, No Mention of Ćulum

(Patria) - Ministers from the Three-Party coalition in the Council of Ministers of BiH (Elmedin Konaković, Zukan Helez, and Edin Forto), as well as Sevlid Hurtić, who belongs to the Bosniak quota, supported the appointment of Dragan Andrić as Deputy Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) without discussion.

This is revealed by the minutes from the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH held on November 4.

"The Deputy Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina explained this agenda item, and no ministers registered to speak. The Council of Ministers considered the Proposal for the Appointment of the Deputy Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency - second round of voting after consultations, in the second round of voting in accordance with Article 18, Paragraph (3) of the Law on the Council of Ministers of BiH, held at the 92nd session of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 4, 2025, the following conclusion was adopted: The Council of Ministers, based on the ranking list of successful candidates for the election and appointment of the Deputy Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency, issued a decision appointing: Dragan Andrić, as the highest-ranked candidate from the list of successful candidates, as Deputy Director of the State Investigation and Protection Agency, for a mandate period of four years".

We remind you that the first round of voting was held on September 17, when there were four votes FOR and five AGAINST.

What is interesting is that the ministers from the Three-Party coalition did not use the opportunity to resolve the issue of Darko Ćulum's dismissal, which they insisted on, and even conditioned the appointment of the deputy director on that process.

The most vocal in this was the Minister of Defense of BiH, Zukan Helez, but apparently, the ministers from the Three-Party coalition have forgotten principles, promises, and the state, as SIPA is still led by an official who, at the call of Milorad Dodik, left this police agency for four months during the attack on the constitutional order.

Although they had the opportunity to resolve the issue of Ćulum, i.e., to insist on a new competition for the Director of SIPA, they did not do so.

We remind you that the ranking list with successful candidates for the Director of SIPA arrived at the Ministry of Security of BiH at the end of August 2024. Ćulum's mandate expired in July of that year. The ranking list includes three names: Darko Ćulum, Ljubiša Pandurević, and Slobodan Radinković. However, the list was never considered at a session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, nor was Ćulum's dismissal, even though he had resigned in March of this year and then withdrew it on July 9. He returned to work on July 14 and continued to lead SIPA as if he had not been part of the attack on the constitutional order.

While ministers from the Bosniak and Three-Party coalitions bear great responsibility, the inaction of the BiH Prosecutor's Office is particularly significant, despite a criminal complaint being filed against Ćulum in July.

As long as the Council of Ministers of BiH does not consider the list for the Director of SIPA and possibly rejects it, the Independent Board cannot announce a new competition.

Otherwise, Ćulum already meets the conditions for retirement, but as long as he is in the director's mandate, he does not have to leave the position.