Country Report on Terrorism 2023 - Chapter 1 - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Overview:  Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) remained a cooperative counterterrorism partner despite its limited capacity.  There are approximately 20 detained and about 100 displaced BiH nationals in northeast Syria.  Two FTFs were arrested and detained on terrorism charges in 2023 upon their return from Türkiye.  BiH continues to be a willing partner in repatriation of FTFs, though political disagreements have hindered the process.  The country’s capacity to undertake a repatriation operation on its own remained limited.  To date, BiH has repatriated 12 detained and 48 displaced nationals.

2023 Terrorist Incidents:  There were no reported terrorist incidents in BiH in 2023.  However, one person, a previously convicted and self-repatriated FTF, was arrested in August for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on a mosque in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH).

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security:  In August the BiH Council of Ministers (CoM) adopted an action plan to implement the previously adopted 2021-26 Strategy for the Prevention and Fight Against Terrorism.  Separate CT action plans also were adopted in the Brčko District in August, the FBiH in September, and Republika Srpska in October.  The BiH Ministry of Security-led Intersectoral Coordination Body for the repatriation of BiH citizens from Syria and Iraq met once in September.

The State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) continued to be the lead law enforcement unit performing CT functions.  SIPA leadership has long advocated for upgrading its CT Unit to Department status to improve its effectiveness; however, bureaucratic inaction has delayed the process.  BiH does not have clear guidelines governing cooperation among prosecutors, law enforcement, and the intelligence community in national security and CT investigations.  SIPA lacks resources directed solely to proactively countering terrorist activity and facilitating timelier cooperation with the Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office (SPO).  The SPO and SIPA continue to receive training provided by the Department of State’s Antiterrorism Assistance program, the FBI, DOJ’s Overseas Prosecutorial Development Assistance and Training program, the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program, DHS, and DoD Special Operations Command Europe.  The SPO-led task force met twice in 2023; the law enforcement-led operational CT working group met eight times.  Law enforcement cooperation at a more strategic level suffers from jurisdictional disputes and bureaucratic obstacles stemming from BiH’s complex governmental structure and the politicization of sensitive criminal justice matters such as terrorism.

In June the draft Law on Border Control adopted by the CoM in November 2022 failed to reach the required number of votes to pass in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly’s House of Representatives.  The CoM established a working group in November to draft a new version of the law aimed at improving the regulatory framework around the collection and use of Advance Passenger Information (API).  In December the CoM’s interagency working group on API and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data finalized a proposal on the legal and technical framework for the collection and use of both API and PNR.  The deployment of PISCES terminals at BiH’s four airports stalled in 2023.  The Service for Foreigners’ Affairs (SFA) continued to share information with international partners on migrants entering BiH, and DHS has provided much-needed training to SFA and expanded the Biometric Identification Transnational Migration Alert Program (or BITMAP) to new locations at the BiH Border Police.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism:  BiH is a member of MONEYVAL (the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering [AML] Measures and the Financing of Terrorism), and its Financial Intelligence Unit, the Financial Intelligence Department, is a member of the Egmont Group.  In March the BiH adopted an addition to its national risk assessment.  In December the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly approved AML and countering the financing of terrorism legislation.

Countering Violent Extremism:  Violent extremist ideology and regional ethnonationalist groups remained potential sources of terrorism in BiH.  BiH’s main religious communities (Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and Orthodox) made limited progress through the Interreligious Council, which the Serbian Orthodox Church left in March, in promoting reconciliation and stemming violence directed at religious communities.  International and local actors working on countering radicalization to violence made significant efforts to focus beyond radical Islam to include extreme ethnonationalism and foreign influence, as well as domestic drivers of violent extremist ideologies, and BiH authorities began concentrating more on REMVE groups.

International and Regional Cooperation:  The SPO continued to work with the United States, regional partners, and EU countries on CT investigations.  BiH is a member of or a participating state in the UN, the OSCE, the Regional Cooperation Council for Southeast Europe, and the Council of Europe.  BiH is a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and a member of the Coalition’s Foreign Terrorist Fighters Working Group and Counter-ISIS Finance Group.