Selmo Cikotić (born 25 January 1964) is a Bosnian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

serving as Minister of Security since 2020. He was also the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 2007 to 2012. He is a member of the

Party of Democratic Action The Party of Democratic Action ( bs, Stranka demokratske akcije; abbr. SDA) is a Bosniak nationalism, Bosniak nationalist, conservative political party in Bosnia and Herzegovina. History The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was founded on 26 M ...

. Cikotić's career in the army spanned for 20 years, being in the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska arm ...

, the

Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( bs, Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine or ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of ...

during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

, and lastly in the

Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, Vojska Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine) was the military of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina created after the 1995 Dayton Agreement. It consisted of two merging units which had be ...

. He was ranked as

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Early career

In February 1993, Cikotić was made commander of operational group Zapad of the

3rd Corps of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

Bugojno Bugojno ( sr-cyrl, Бугојно) is a town and municipality located in Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on river Vrbas, to the northwest from Sarajevo. Acc ...

. He served as the military attaché at the embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United States in Washington, D.C. from December 1994 to 1997. As

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

, Cikotić was enrolled at the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perman ...

in June 1997, before being expelled as a result of unconfirmed accusations made by Croatian officials that he commanded soldiers who tortured and killed people in and around Bugojno during the

. From 2000 until 2004, he was the Commander of the 1st Corps of the Federal Army, and from 2004 to 2007 CEO of OKI in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

. Cikotić has a master's degree from the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo ( Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a public university located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the largest ...

in 2004 and is fluent in English.

Minister of Defence (2007–2012)

Cikotić was appointed

on 11 January 2007, but was unable to take up officially until 22 April 2007, when a ban on former army officers performing defence-related civilian duties expired. In June 2007, he jointly attended a

Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) is a post– Cold War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) institution. The EAPC is a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and Central As ...

at the

NATO headquarters The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is headquartered in a complex in Haren, part of the City of Brussels municipality of Belgium. The staff at the headquarters is composed of national delegations of NATO member states and includes civ ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

with Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Šutanovac, where together they expressed their governments' wish to join

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

as soon as possible. In March 2008, Cikotić led a five member delegation to Pakistan, to discuss "bilateral cooperation between the two Muslim countries". His term as Minister of Defence ended on 12 January 2012.

Minister of Security (2020–present)

On 23 July 2020, Cikotić became Minister of Security in the government of Zoran Tegeltija. This came after Fahrudin Radončić resigned as Minister of Security over a migration dispute with other members of

Zoran Tegeltija Zoran Tegeltija (; born 29 September 1961) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as the 10th Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina since December 2019. He was Minister of Finance of Republika Srpska from 2010 to 2018 and m ...

's government; Radončić proposed the deportation of 9,000 migrants which the cabinet, headed by Tegeltija, voted against. On 25 November 2021, the

Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Bosnian: ''Tužilaštvo Bosne i Hercegovine'', Croatian: ''Tužiteljstvo Bosne i Hercegovine'', Serbian: ''Тужилаштво Босне и Херцеговине''; abbreviated as the ''Pro ...

filed an indictment against Cikotić for high corruption, regarding abuse of position and authority at the time when he was Defence Minister. The national Court confirmed the indictment against Cikotić on 8 December 2021, accusing him of abusing his position as Defence Minister from 2009 until 2011, which damaged the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina by 9.7 million KM and obtained multimillion-dollar property gain for others.

Personal life

On 17 October 2020, it was confirmed that Cikotić tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

, amid its pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

References

External links

Biography at the Ministry of Defense BiH
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cikotic, Selmo 1964 births Living people People from Berane Bosniaks of Montenegro Bosnia and Herzegovina politicians Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Party of Democratic Action politicians Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina soldiers Bosnia and Herzegovina people of Montenegrin descent Government ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Security ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina