The Republic of Srpska

  Today, in Banja Luka, the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior presented the new personalized smart card – official identification card and identification document for all members of the Ministry with the aim of increasing the level of security for information and communication infrastructure of the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior. Police Director, Mr Siniša Kostrešević, said that the Ministry of the Interior was the first law enforcement agency in BIH to introduce new official identification cards. ‘In addition to the fact that we wish to further protect the official identification card from misuse and forgery, our aim is to provide safe access to all electronic databases to all the members of the Ministry and civil servants. It is a prerequisite for digital signing of documents and data exchange’, Director Kostrešević said. He added that the whole project was developed by the ICT Administration of the Republic of Srpska Ministry of the Interior, and that everything was implemented with the support of EU Delegation to BIH through IPA funds. According to him, the total value of this project, financed by donated funds, is €200,000. Police Director pointed out that the new cards are in use from that day, and that the Ministry had more than 6,000 officers and more than 2,000 civil servants employed. Head of the ICT Administration, Ms Divna Lovrić Bojanić, said that the advantage of these smart cards was numerous protection elements, which makes it difficult to forge these cards. ‘They provide more secure access to information-communication resources of the Ministry of the Interior, and the final aim is to establish electronic services in the competence of the Ministry for the citizens of the Republic of Srpska’, Lovrić Bojanić said.