Radar: Putting the police in the service of politics

The weekly said that, since the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to power, the police department has been gradually transformed into a party service, and in recent years, it has become obedient to the highest state leadership.

The staffing policy of the Internal Affairs Ministry (MUP) reflects this trend. The MUP comprises loyalists with no police experience whatsoever, and the few remaining professionals are turned into yes-men, they are degraded or dismissed. Many former and current MUP members testify to the complete absence of professional criteria in the police over the past 10 years. Instead of professionalism, career advancement is based on personal loyalty to the top state leadership and sycophancy, said Radar.

The government, personified in Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, expected unwavering loyalty from former interior ministers Nebojsa Stefanovic and Aleksandar Vulin, and incumbent Minister Bratislav Gasic. According to some accounts, it seems that Gasic's blind devotion has lost intensity, as Stefanovic's did once, so there is now an internal battle over who will be the new leader of one of the most important ministries for the Progressives.

The fact that the government shows no interest in the normal functioning of the police is also evidenced by the fact that the key figure for the operation of the MUP, the police director, has not been appointed for over two years now, reported the weekly.

According to Radar, the SNS practice to either dismiss the professionals in the MUP or turn them into yes-men started with minister Stefanovic, and has not changed to this day. People with no police experience were brought in, such as former state secretary and secretary of the Criminal Police Administration (UKP) Dijana Hrkalovic or the Gendarmerie chief coordinator Nenad Vuckovic, who is still in the police force that he joined after a failed career in the military. Such individuals continue to lead the police force, reported the weekly.

Radar cited the example of the former chief of the Police Administration, Dejan Bojovic, who is currently the head of the minister's office. Bojovic is an associate and acquaintance of Veselin Milic from the police academy, while Milic has been reinstated as Belgrade police chief. They progressed through their careers together, with Milic having direct contacts with the authorities. Between two terms of office as Belgrade police chief, Milic was an advisor to President Vucic. Bojovic has also transitioned from an active police career to a political one.