Illegitimate cooperation of BiH with EUROPOL – Why is key person Mirsad Vilic silent?

Signing of the cooperation agreement between BH Ministry of Security and EUROPOL is not in conjunction with the BH laws. But that is not the only problem. This is about a new step taken towards dissolution of BH institutions and strengthening of the entities, says our source from the Ministry of Security.
At present, this agreement is awaiting approval by the BH Presidency. It is, however, Directorate for the Coordination of the Police Bodies and not the Ministry of Security who should cooperate with the EUROPOL. That is defined by the Constitution of BiH, Article 3.

Why is then Ministry of Security interfering?

Mirsad Vilic, the first person of the Directorate has for weeks kept silent about this. In a telephone conversation with Patria reporter he said that the cooperation between Ministry and EUROPOL will be illegitimate. However, he did not want to speak out in public about this. It is curious why Vilic is keeping silent. For whose interests is he letting dissolution of BH institutions? Has he already sacrificed the personnel of Department for cooperation with EUROPOL that works as part of Directorate for the Coordination of the Police Bodies? What will happen with this Department once cooperation between the Ministry and EUROPOL becomes operational?

News Agency Patria recently revealed that BH Presidency and its President Dragan Covic would not issue an approval to the Ministry of Security to sign an agreement with EUROPOL until Ministers of Interior of all 10 cantons in Federation BiH agree and approve. Such Covic's decision provoked a strong reaction in BH public. Nobody wants cantons to run the international politics of BiH.

However, what seems to be the key question in this story about cooperation between BiH and EUROPOL is whether Ministry of Security should communicate with EUROPOL at all?

Experts claim that Ministry of Security cannot do this important job in the name of BiH! That job is responsibility of Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH.

According to Constitution of BiH, the state is responsible for the implementation of regulations about rendering the international legal aid which also includes international police cooperation. At the institutional level, police cooperation is carried out via organizations of the international police cooperation (Interpol, Europol, Selec, Frontex etc.).

The Council of Ministers of BiH brought a decision by which a temporary body is formed within Ministry of Security responsible for cooperation of the Council of Ministers with EUROPOL. This body includes all police representatives of entities, cantons, Brcko District and others.

Law on ministries and other bodies from 2003 was supposed to abolish this decision i.e. the Law requires that 'office for cooperation with Interpol and Ministry of Security is moved to Directorate, and newly formed sector is now named Sector for International Operational Police Cooperation.
 

Since then, all jobs of the international operational cooperation has come under sole responsibility of Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH. Directorate has even formed a special sector for international police cooperation and office for cooperation with EUROPOL.

Legal experts tell us that any future cooperation between Ministry of Security of BiH and EUROPOL will be illegitimate from the point of view of the existing laws of BiH. 

This position of BiH suits the government of RS. It is of strategic importance for them that contact point with EUROPOL is not a state agency but some temporary board of the Council of Ministers.

Wishes of Dragan Covic, HDZ leader has been also fulfilled – the cantons are allowed to run the international politics of BiH.

At the same time, Bosniak leaders who present themselves as the only authentic protectors of BiH, silently approve this scenario.