Čović requested entry of Russian team 'to help Mostar'

(Patria) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina was addressed by note from the Embassy of the Russian Federation in BiH, at the request of Dragan Čović, seeking permission for the entry into BiH territory for "24 members of the medical team and five specialized military BAH vehicles for decontamination and disinfection".

According to the document that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Bisera Turković sent to the Minister of Defense of BiH Sifet Podžić, the entry of the Russian team was requested by the Speaker of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament and HDZ leader Dragan Čović in order to "provide assistance to Mostar".

Turković forwarded the request of the Russian Embassy in BiH to Podžić, who stated that the Ministry of Defense is not competent to grant permission for the entry of armed forces of another country into the territory of BiH, writes N1.

As Podžić stated, this ministry is not aware of any decision that the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina may have made to approve the entry of military medical teams of the Russian Federation into the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor about the tasks on which they might be engaged.

"Also, the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of BiH were not involved in any way in the negotiation of any bilateral arrangement that would involve the stay and engagement of members of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of BiH," the response from Podžić states.