Kljajić for NAP: We expected more from Radončić, the entity has no right to block the border strip of BiH

BIHAĆ, (Patria) - According to the assessment of the Ministry of Interior of the Una-Sana Canton, there are currently around 4,500 refugees and migrants in the area of the Una-Sana Canton. Most of them are accommodated in camps, while about a thousand people are in makeshift shelters, mostly in abandoned buildings, inadequate for human accommodation.

The Minister of Interior of the Una-Sana Canton, Nermin Kljajić, told Patria that they expected a lot from the new Minister of Security, Fahrudin Radončić, and the Council of Ministers in terms of reducing the number of migrants in the area of the Una-Sana Canton.

He claims they remain disappointed by the lack of a visit from the new Minister of Security.

“We see in these two – two and a half months since the Council of Ministers was formed, they are absolutely not interested in the fact that 90 percent of migrants in relation to the rest of BiH are located in the area of the Una-Sana Canton, while the remaining 10 percent are elsewhere.

It is most likely that in 2020 as well, we in the Una-Sana Canton will be the only ones dealing with the migrant crisis. They will entertain us with the Constitutional Court of BiH, secession, the Election Law. Occasionally we will have statistical indicators that migrants are entering, that our borders are not protected, that we do not have a sufficient number of border police officers, and so on,” said Kljajić.

The minister emphasizes that in the area of the Una-Sana Canton they are dealing with consequences, while the cause is on the eastern border with Serbia.

“One of the proposals of our operational group was to assign a certain number of police officers to the Border Police of BiH. If we were to start the process of filling positions in the Border Police now, due to necessary training, this process would take up to two years. Our proposal was that from ten police agencies in the canton and two at the entity level, we assign 500-600 police officers to the Border Police. With the former minister Mektić, we failed to reach such an agreement. Another proposal was for the Armed Forces to come out and protect the eastern border, as in all orderly countries,” says Kljajić.

However, as he notes, we have a situation where representatives from the Republika Srpska have a firm stance that our police forces cannot go to the eastern border of BiH, nor the Armed Forces.

“We have a blockade by the smaller entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina and there is no consensus to implement these ideas. The state would certainly have to take a firmer stance here because it is known what the state interest is. The state interest is the protection of the border, and no entity has the right to block the border strip of BiH. I think that in this sense, Minister Radončić should also be more decisive to start protecting that border,” says Kljajić.

Commenting on the recent meeting between Minister of Security Fahrudin Radončić and Croatian Minister of Interior Davor Božinović, Kljajić points out that the presented proposal could be a double-edged sword.

“Minister Radončić supported the return of migrants to Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Croatian border, and offered assistance from Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of strengthening the border to cut off the route through the Una-Sana Canton.

Kljajić emphasizes that they support the meeting only if the same meeting is held with the Minister of Police of the Republic of Serbia, and if the same action is taken to protect the border with Serbia. As I said, that proposal can be a double-edged sword. One option is to strengthen the border with Croatia to such an extent that they are discouraged from coming to the area of the Una-Sana Canton, that they are forced to look for another route. On the other hand, it may happen that migrants start to gather in increasing numbers and then we have a problem of what to do with them,” Kljajić underscores.