After the Serb member of the Presidency for Bosnian Serb police to guard him, the state agency coordinating police bodies in the country told N1 on Wednesday that, according to the law, it is the only institution allowed to provide security to members of the tripartite Presidency.

The current Chairman of Bosnia’s Presidency, Bosnian Serb member Milorad Dodik, said after he was inaugurated last week that he distrusts state institutions and wants officers from the Interior Ministry in Bosnia’s Serb-dominated semi-autonomous entity, Republika Srpska (RS), to guard him while he serves his new office.

That’s not going to happen, according to the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The body referred to the law, saying it “precisely prescribes” that organising and conducting the security of persons and state institutions is “under the exclusive competence” of the Directorate.

“There is no option for any other police agency to directly conduct the security of members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the Directorate added.