The Security Commission of Bosnia's Federation (FBiH) entity requested that institutions investigate the security situation in the country as well as what led to announcements about the formation of an auxiliary police unit in Bosnia's other entity, the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS).
The head of the Commission, Damir Masic, said they adopted four conclusions unanimously and that the first one asks the international community and the Office of the High Representative (OHR), which oversees the civilian implementation of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, to stop all activities by the RS Police which breach it and threaten security in the country.
In the second conclusion, the Commission asked State institutions to assess the situation after the RS parliament adopted the draft changes to the law on police.
The Commission recommended that the FBiH Government and all of its ten cantons fill the vacant positions in all their police units and to equip them adequately.
The final conclusion said that if the RS entity does not stop the procedure of adopting the controversial draft law changes, the FBiH will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of its citizens.
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After the 1992-95 war, Bosnia was divided into two semi-autonomous regions, the Serb-dominated RS and the FBiH which is shared mostly by the Bosniaks and the Croats. Each entity has its own government, parliament and police.
The RS parliament (National Assembly) recently adopted a controversial draft of law changes that would establish the auxiliary police unit there, which, according to the RS Interior Minister, would be composed of some 1,000 new officers who would be summoned only when necessary.
The officers would have the same powers as regular police.
But the announcement prompted fierce reactions from FBiH, where several political parties said they would support the establishment of such a police unit there as well. As the FBiH is further divided into ten cantons, this would possibly mean the creation of ten new police units.
“We expect the competent institutions and the OHR to end this because it's against the interests of Bosnian citizens regardless of where they live,” Masic noted.
He added that adequate measures, as mentioned in the conclusions, can mean anything – including the formation of an auxiliary FBiH Police unit.
The FBiH Interior Minister, Aljosa Campara, also asked international institutions to “end this”, as “militarising the police is not right.”
“If they (RS) adopt the Draft Law, then the FBiH will have an appropriate response. We'd like to end this because we think the funds should go towards the economic strengthening and welfare instead of establishing auxiliary police units,”Campara said.
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Campara said that 1,526 positions within the FBiH entity and Cantonal police departments are vacant and that there was never any reason for establishing an additional police unit because of this.
“We're glad that the Commission ordered us to fill our regular units at the FBiH and cantonal level. In seven to eight months we will train these forces and make them part of our regular units.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the RS Interior Minister Dragan Lukac said that the Draft Law is not directed against anyone, but that the RS, as well as the rest of the country, need more police officers for security reasons.
He also said that “there is no need for them (FBiH) to threaten with the formation of an auxiliary unit.”
He argued that in this way, the RS is helping their colleagues from the Una-Sana Canton who have been battling the ever increasing number of illegal migrants coming into the country from Serbia.
Lukac said the auxiliary unit would prevent the migrants from illegally crossing the border with Serbia, in their attempt to get to Western Europe.
