Serbia Resolves Battle Over Police Chief's Post

Milorad Veljovic will continue in his role as Serbian police director for the next five years, the government said on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, an Interior Ministry commission named Veljovic as the only short-listed candidate.

Veljovic was first appointed in 2006 and remained until his mandate expired in 2011.  A call for applications for the post of police director was announced last November.

Delays in the appointment of a new police director fuelled reports of power battles between the ruling Progressive and Socialist parties.

While the Progressives backed Veljovic, the Socialists opted for Dragan Markovic, deputy director of the Serbian security service BIA.

The dispute between the Progressives and the Socialists appears to have been resolved early in February when the police, in accordance with Vucic, leaked information on Dacic's ties with Rodoljub Radulovic, a member of suspected member of drug lord Darko Saric's gang. After that, Dacic aparently agreed that Veljovic should be re-elected.