Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Zukan Helez confirmed in an interview that he submitted a request for checks to Intelligence – Security Agency of BiH in order to exercise the right of access to top secret data.
“I submitted the request together with the appointed advisers of my cabinet, made the requested documentation available for inspection, and now the authorities responsible for these tasks are carrying out the necessary procedures until obtaining permission to access highly secret data,” said Helez.
Minister Helez also spoke about the increasingly harsh rhetoric of the president of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Milorad Dodik. In the past period, Dodik talked about the establishment of a unit within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS that would monitor the entity border.
“Article 84 of the Law on the Defense of BiH literally states: “The Parliamentary Assembly, the Council of Ministers of BiH, the Presidency, and all defense entities, within the framework of their own constitutional and legal competence, will carry out the necessary activities for the admission of BiH to NATO membership”. Brcko District of BiH, Entities, cantons, and municipalities are, among other things, subjects of defense. Any violation of this article of the Law should be sanctioned by the judicial authorities. There are entity lines that are determined, but not marked, and as such cannot be the location of checkpoints of any security forces, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS,” Helez explained.
When asked what encourages Dodik to periodically bring up the story of the secession of the RS entity, Helez answers that the support of certain politicians is crucial.
“He is encouraged, first of all, by his connection with Putin and the fact that he decorated him, but the entire democratic world considers him responsible for the war crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine. He has the support of President Vucic and the top of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and finally, but perhaps first, he is encouraged by the fact that some Bosniak leaders and representatives of the “people” tacitly support secession in order to have some sort of “Fildzan (Coffeecup) Bey state” in which they will divide power between a dozen families, and we will be their vassals for life,” Helez stated, Klix.ba reports.
