RELJIĆ: CLAIMS BY FEDERAL MEDIA ARE INACCURATE

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 2 /SRNA/ – The Agency for Personal Data Protection of BiH has not stated that the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska has assumed the agency’s jurisdiction in relation to the digital identity system, as some federal media claim, said the Director of the Agency, Dragoljub Reljić, in a statement to SRNA. He clarified that only an inspection procedure has been initiated in this case.

Reljić emphasized that the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry has authorization concerning the processing of personal data, adding that the claims by federal media suggesting otherwise are false. "Clearly, these statements were written by someone who doesn’t understand the issue," Reljić said. He noted that an inspection procedure was initiated regarding this matter and that the same response was provided to parliamentary questions from members of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly’s House of Representatives. "We will establish the factual circumstances in this procedure, and that is the only accurate element among all these media claims," Reljić said, adding that the procedure was launched in accordance with the law. He announced that the Agency will issue an official denial, as some media outlets reported that the Agency had already declared the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry to be in violation of the law and to have assumed jurisdiction. "We never said that. The Agency will take an official position only after establishing the factual situation," Reljić emphasized. Several federal media outlets had reported that the RS Interior Ministry had "assumed the jurisdiction of the Agency for Personal Data Protection of BiH," and that this had been "partially confirmed by the Agency, which ordered a mediated inspection procedure."