appointed generals in the Armed Forces of BiH (AFBiH), criticism followed. The Deputy Minister of Defense of BiH, Brigadier Slaven Galic, sent a letter to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Kristo, in which he pointed out a drastic violation of laws and procedures prescribed by the Laws on Defense of BiH and on service in the AFBiH, when appointing generals in the AFBiH.
Deputy Minister of Defense of BiH Slaven Galic claims that the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH should establish how the name of the ‘candidate’ for a high position appeared before the Presidency of BiH, if it was not submitted by the legal proposer, the Minister of Defense of BiH, and how the dismissal and retirement of Major General Marko Stojcic was carried out illegally, because there was no proposal from the Minister of Defense for that. Acomment was requested from the Cabinet of the Chairman of the BiH Presidency. In the answer, they touched on the Stojcic case, as well as the appointment of the commander of the Support Command, Martin Propadal.
“The appointment of generals is the exclusive competence of the Presidency of BiH according to the Law on the Defense of BiH, Article 12, point, i. j. k. General Stojcic was not appointed because he did not have the appropriate schooling. In addition, Stojcic has fulfilled the requirements for retirement. Martin Propadalo fulfills all the requirements for appointment, in accordance with Article 116 of the Law on Service in the Armed Forces and Article 19 of the Rulebook on Promotion of Military Personnel, Official Gazette of BiH No. 34/23″, the Cabinet of the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH Zeljko Komsic stated.
The Deputy Minister of Defense of BiH, Slaven Galic claims that the Ministry of Defense submitted a list of agreed generals and brigadiers to the Presidency and that the Presidency of BiH made changes – without returning the list to the Ministry of Defense and asking for reconciliation.
“There was a gross violation of the law, i.e. the procedures that must be followed when it comes to the Defense Law. It is the minister who nominates people for certain positions when it comes to the general structure, and it is the Presidency that appoints, confirms it or if not “satisfied with certain proposals, it must be returned to the Minister of Defense, who must then, in accordance with the law and procedures, propose another candidate,” Galic points out.
According to the Law on Defense of BiH, based on Article 15 point (g) of this Law, the Minister of Defense of BiH proposes the appointment, promotion and dismissal of generals. And it is crucial, according to Galic, that if the Presidency is not satisfied with certain proposals, it is obliged to return it to the Minister of Defense, who must then propose another candidate in accordance with the law and procedures. Military analyst Djuro Kozar sees political reasons behind all this.
“The explanation that General Marko Stojcic does not meet the requirements for the appointment of the Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of the AFBiH is unacceptable. He has been in the general position since 2013, first as Deputy Commander, and then Commander of the Support Command, which is headquartered in Banja Luka. 10 years ago, he had all the qualifications for appointment, but now he allegedly doesn’t. Namely, he graduated from the Military Academy, majoring in artillery, he is 55 years old and he could have been in active service, I think that General Stojcic was eliminated for political reasons,“ claims Kozar.
During the candidacy and appointment of the general corps in the AFBiH, more attention was paid to some political issues, which are not important for the Armed Forces, while little attention was paid to important issues such as expertise, which, of course, is not good for the AFBiH, the military analyst concludes. What follows is that the Presidency’s decision will be found in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.
