Šestan will oversee himself from Friday

At its Wednesday session, the government dismissed Leon Behin as director general of the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Protection and Rescue (URSZR), the state body for disaster response. It gave his post to Srečko Šestan, who has been commander of Civil Protection since 2012. The two previously separate roles are now combined: from Friday, the same man will run the administration and command Civil Protection.

Behin told the portal N1 during the government session that Defence Minister Valentin Hajdinjak had informed him of the planned dismissal.

Šestan will serve as acting director general until a new director general is appointed, but for six months at most, that is, no later than 24 March 2027.

The Government Communication Office explained the decision as follows:

"With this appointment, we want to ensure more unified management of administrative and operational-professional tasks and a better link between the strategic and operational levels, for even more effective action in natural and other disasters." (translated)

Put more simply: the man who decides how many firefighters, how much equipment and how much money an intervention needs will now also be the one reporting on it to himself.

Behin was appointed director general of URSZR with a full term in August 2023, so he held the post for a good two years. The government did not explain why he had to go right now. It only said the move was about a "better link" between levels of decision-making.