Bratislav Gasic

Bratislav Gasic, the former Serbian defense minister whose career was derailed by a sexist comment, has been tapped to serve as head of the country's Security Information Agency.

The appointment was announced by prime minister Aleksandar Vucic on Monday, May 22, 2017.

"Gasic will be the head of the BIA because for a year-and-a-half he had been without a function," Vucic said at a press conference regarding the appointment.

"Is Bratislav Gasic competent for this?I am absolutely sure he is." The prime minister called Gasic "a man who knows everything in the world of defense and security."

A senior official in Vucic's Progressive Party, Gasic is best known for the scandalous event in which he insulted a female journalist.

Gasic was fired from his post as Defense Minister in January 2016 for the sexist invective he hurled at Zlatija Labovic, a B92 television reporter who knelt to get out of her cameraman's way at a press event.Gasic remarked, "I love female journalists who get down on their knees easily."

The media expressed outraged at this comment, and public protests broke out in front of government building in Belgrade.Protesters demanded Gasic's removal from office.

The former minister's appointment to head a bureau concerned with national security is alarming to many who have lost faith in Gasic's competence since this event.

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