Bosnian Security Minister Resigns over Political Disputes

Fahrudin Radoncic told his colleagues at a session of Bosnia's Council of Ministers on Tuesday that he will submit his resignation as security minister after explaining earlier in the day that "political differences on strategic issues" with governing coalition partners were behind his reasons for quitting.

At a press conference to announce his resignation, he cited a disagreement with coalition partners over the migrant crisis. Radoncic had advocated the deportation of 9,500 illegal migrants who he claimed are a major security risk to the country.

In April, he accused Pakistan's ambassador to Sarajevo of refusing to cooperate with the Bosnian authorities in establishing the identities of migrants coming from Pakistan.

But when the Bosniak member of the Bosnian tripartite presidency, Sefik Dzaferovic, and Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic met the ambassador, they condemned Radoncic for suggesting that the ambassador could be declared persona non grata unless he cooperated more closely.

Radoncic said he intended to resign at the time but postponed the decision because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The second reason he gave for quitting was a scandal over the importation of allegedly overpriced Chinese respirators. Fadil Novalic, the caretaker prime minister in Bosnia's Federation entity, is a suspect in an investigation into the issue.

The country's largest Bosniak party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA, to which Novalic belongs, called the investigation anti-Bosniak. After that, chief state prosecutor Gordana Tadic asked for additional protection because she received threats.

"I do not see anything anti-Bosniak in this process. I can't just watch and not react when someone makes a target out of the prosecutor," Radoncic...