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Power in Serbia does not lie in institutions, but in political parties
As long as the power is in the hands of political parties, we can not expect effective control and efficiency of the security services or resolving political murders and serious reform of the security sector, concluded the President of the Executive Board of Belgrade Centre for Security Policy Miroslav Hadzic on the Radio Belgrade talk show "Talasanje".
What is the relation of political parties and security services, what is the power of the secret services and who controls them and whether it is realistic to expect the resolving political murders in Serbia were the topics discussed by President of the Executive Board of Belgrade Centre for Security Policy Miroslav Hadzic and former director of the Military Security Agency Svetko Kovac on the Radio Belgrade talk show “Talasanje”. Miroslav Hadzic said that the government is not concerned enough for reforming the security sector and that there is no evidence that the politicians really want to carry out serious reform of the security sector.
“In Serbia, developments are dependent on one's will, peevishness or a lack of will. The key laws have not been adopted and the power does not lie in institutions, but it all depends on the holders of political power. Oversight power does not lie in the Parliament, but in the political parties”, said Hadzic.
Speaking on the control of the security services professor Hadzic pointed out two important questions: whether it is possible to control the security services because of the nature of their work and whether the system is able to prevent services to make damage.
“Security check is not legally regulated. It provides elites of services to maintain and increase their power and influence on political decisions. This is a key issue that brings us back to the question of preventing damage. The system failed to ensure that the service or their members do not make damage to this society”, concluded Miroslav Hadzic.
The former director of the Military Security Agency Svetko Kovac during the talk show said that Military Security Agency seriously reformed during the process which lasted eight years. However, he denied that this is sufficient to solve political murders.
“There is political will to solve political murders. Also in the security services there is a willingness and ability to do so. The problem is the lack of evidence that it is impossible to obtain from this time distance”, said Kovac.
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