GOGANOVIĆ: HELEZ DOESN'T KNOW LEGAL PROCEDURES ENOUGH

SARAJEVO, APRIL 27 /SRNA/ - Deputy Minister of Defense in the Council of Ministers, Aleksandar Goganović, told SRNA that Defense Minister Zukan Helez does not know enough about legal procedures, and that as Deputy Minister, he will friendly explain to him that the Minister and Deputy Ministers of Defense do not have the legal ability to send members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the border.

Responding to Helez's statements that in case of violation of territorial integrity and sovereignty, he would send members of the Armed Forces to what he said was the state border, Goganović told SRNA that in accordance with the Law on Defense and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, he would protect the reputation and integrity of the defense system and the multi-ethnic Armed Forces of BiH from everyone, and even from the Minister of Defense himself, and again called Helez to stop using the defense system for personal political promotion. Goganović explained that the movement of human and material resources outside the military-controlled areas must be approved by the BiH Presidency, as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and only by consensus, which is precisely defined by the Law on Defense and the Constitution of BiH. "I am sorry that my colleague Helez, as the Minister of Defense, does not know enough about legal procedures and I would like to remind you that any member of the Armed Forces who leaves the barracks without the decision of the Presidency of BiH and on the orders of the Minister commits a serious criminal offense, and the Minister could even be brought in connection with the coup attempt and the creation of paramilitary formations that are not in accordance with the Defense Law," Goganović pointed out. He asked on the basis of which intelligence and security data Helez announced the threat from neighboring Serbia and assessed that such statements by the Minister of Defense do not contribute to the stability of the region, as well as the Balkans as a whole. "Unlike my colleague Helez, I will work on building good-neighborly relations with Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro, because they contribute to the stability of the whole of Europe. Cooperation with all our partners is of key importance in challenging times," stated Deputy Minister of Defense Aleksandar Goganović.