Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Defense Zukan Helez said that, at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he gave a statement to inspectors of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in connection with a criminal complaint filed against him by politician Mirnes Ajanović. The complaint, he said, was the result of his visit to the Igman defense industry factory in Konjic.
Ajanović stated in the complaint that Helez’s behavior was “irresponsible and provocative” and that it could contribute to the destabilization of the security situation in the country. Helez, however, rejects the accusations, calling them a politically motivated attack at the height of the political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“In the midst of the political crisis in our country, when secessionist Milorad Dodik and the clique he gathered around him with the aim of breaking up Bosnia and Herzegovina are attacking Bosnia and Herzegovina and its institutions, the failed politician Ajanović accused me of destabilizing Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ajanović is not bothered by Dodik’s unconstitutional and illegal actions, constant insults and humiliation of Bosniaks and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but I, the Minister of Defense of BiH, who, by virtue of my functional competence, have an obligation to respond to any attempt to threaten the sovereignty, territorial integrity and integrity of our homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Helez said.
He compared Ajanović’s complaint to the actions of Fikret Abdić, accusing him of reminding us of “fifth column practices” that, as he states, have harmed Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past.
“Attacks from within my own ranks, aimed at cheap promotion and media headlines, sadden me more than they surprise me. But they will not stop me,” the minister said.
Helez concluded that, despite the pressures, he would continue to work on strengthening the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the specialized industry, with the message that he would not be intimidated, as he stated, by “Ajanović, Galijašević, Abdić and others who serve the centers of power interested in destabilizing the country.”
