No one is protecting the skies above BiH

The skies above Bosnia and Herzegovina are still not protected by anyone. Countries in the region have their own combat aviation, or rely on NATO interceptors, but the skies above BiH are completely open, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

A Turkish business jet Embraer Phenom 300 E55P caused real panic in the skies over Croatia at the end of January, as it flew over the territory of our western neighbors without requesting permission to do so.

Two combat MiG-21s, so-called interceptors of the Croatian Air Force and Air Defense, were waiting like a coiled spring for orders to take off from Pleso airport. In the end, Italian F16 fighters took off, which took off from Cervia base near Ravenna, on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, because it was assessed that Italian interceptors would reach the suspicious aircraft faster than Croatian MiGs could.

In the end, it turned out that the Turkish plane made only a procedural error, it reported to air traffic control in Belgrade, but did not report out when leaving Serbia, nor did it report to air traffic control in Zagreb before entering Croatian territory.

The same plane, before it scrambled Italian fighters, flew carefree over Bosnia and Herzegovina, and our country had no mechanism to control it or possibly force it to land, because Bosnia and Herzegovina does not have combat fighters that could do that.

However, what is more worrying is the fact that no state institution in BiH considers itself responsible for resolving this issue.

Pippa Routledge, spokesperson for EUFOR in BiH, explained to the BiH news agency Patria that the Directorate for Civil Aviation, based in Banja Luka, should know the answer to this question. However, the Directorate claims that this issue is not within their jurisdiction and that, at least according to their logic, the protection of BiH skies should be within the jurisdiction of the BiH Ministry of Defense, as is the case in neighboring countries.

The BiH Ministry of Defense, in turn, passes the ball to the BiH Ministry of Transport and Communications or the BiH Air Navigation Services Agency.

Experts warn that Bosnia and Herzegovina is somewhat fortunate to be surrounded by Serbia and Croatia, which serve as a kind of filter for aircraft over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Otherwise, the airspace of our country would be much more endangered.

Neighboring Croatia would gladly get involved in conflict situations in the skies over BiH, like the one that happened at the end of January with the Turkish plane, but the Croatian Air Force explains to the Patria agency that the Croatian Armed Forces are exclusively responsible for guarding the airspace of Croatia and, if necessary, NATO member states.

If an unannounced aircraft appears over any non-NATO neighboring country, Croatian MiG-21 combat aircraft are not allowed to intercept them, but must meet and intercept them in Croatian airspace.

- There is an agreement between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina according to which, for the purpose of firefighting, aircraft from the Croatian Air Force and Air Defense system are allowed to enter the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina up to a depth of ten kilometers, but this applies exclusively to firefighting – it was confirmed to Patria from the Croatian Air Force and Air Defense.