The head of the Aviation Administration at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, Boban Kusturić (52), was found dead in his weekend cottage in the Česma settlement near Banja Luka. According to the police, the body was discovered by a friend around 9 p.m. yesterday. Investigators from the Police Directorate in Banja Luka and the district prosecutor carried out the on-site inquiry.

Kusturić was a prominent figure in the aviation sector of Republika Srpska. He graduated from the Military Aviation Academy in Belgrade in 1997 - the Yugoslav era, a few years after Dayton. From 1997 to 2005 he served as a military pilot. Then he moved into the civilian sector - leading the SAR (search and rescue) helicopter unit in the Civil Aviation Administration of Republika Srpska. From 2008 to April 2025 he was director of the Helicopter Service of Republika Srpska. Last month, in April, he began heading the newly formed Aviation Administration. He held the „Miloš Obilić" Order.

The district prosecutor's office has not yet released the cause of death. That's an important detail. When it's written „found dead" without further explanation, Balkan readers rightly ask - why. Suicide? Heart attack? Something darker? In a country where the aviation administration is directly connected to the work of police and military services, the death of any senior official deserves attention.

Republika Srpska is in a particular political moment. President Milorad Dodik is under US and UK sanctions. The authorities in Sarajevo are waiting for the public information on his fate. The RS security apparatus is a sub-unit of the Bosnian security apparatus - but in practice operates largely autonomously. Kusturić, through the Aviation Administration, had access to information on flights, airfields and helicopter operations on the territory of Republika Srpska.

What can be expected now? An investigation which - judging by old Bosnian practice - will take months, deliver partial conclusions, and remain without full closure. Kusturić will not be the last name on this list in the coming months. Republika Srpska is in a period of political turbulence, and such turbulence rarely passes with parliamentary motions alone.

For the Balkans, the message is minimal - the situation in Bosnia is not stable. Institutional volatility turns into personal volatility. Every time a high-ranking official disappears without explanation, the region should pay attention.