Nešić responds to Konaković: Don't try to shift your incompetence onto others

(Patria) - Regarding the statement by the BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković yesterday that 'The MFA of BiH provides active support to the BiH Ministry of Security responsible for the evacuation process of BiH citizens from Gaza', the Minister of Security Nenad Nešić asked his colleague Konaković not to try to hide his incompetence in providing timely assistance to BiH citizens, which is a legal obligation of the MFA, behind the Ministry of Security.

'Minister Konaković's demagoguery and posturing are of no help to BiH citizens in Gaza. The problem clearly arose when concrete and effective action was needed. It is a shame for BiH that more BiH citizens were evacuated from the war-torn area by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia than by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH. According to the Law on
Ministries and Other Administrative Bodies of BiH, the responsibility of the MFA of BiH is the protection of BiH citizens temporarily residing abroad,' emphasizes Minister Nešić.

Diplomatic-consular missions in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Qatar, he explains, are obliged to assist BiH citizens and provide them with a travel document if they do not have a valid travel document.

'If some relatives of relatives who are not BiH citizens have appeared, whom Konaković also wants to bring to BiH, then of course the Border Police, the Service for Foreigners' Affairs, and the Ministry of Security will conduct all security checks because, in essence, these are migrants. We have no intention of allowing foreign citizens coming from war zones where terrorist organizations operate to enter without security checks,' stresses the Minister of Security Nenad Nešić.

He adds that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković has not provided the Ministry of Security with a list of 54 people who wish to be evacuated to BiH, of whom only 19 are BiH citizens.

'Had he provided us with those names, we would have immediately informed him whether there were any individuals among them, foreign citizens, who should not be allowed to board the plane to BiH. Otherwise, we will conduct checks of these individuals at the border and act in accordance with legal regulations,' states Nešić.

Minister Nešić concludes by telling his colleague Konaković not to hide behind the Ministry of Security in the future and not to try to shift his incompetence onto others in a populist manner.

'The European Commission's opinion clearly states who effectively does their job and solves problems. The Ministry of Security. In the future, I advise my colleague Konaković – if he doesn't know how to do something, he should feel free to ask us for advice, we will gladly help him. Posturing and populism have a short lifespan. We do not wish to compete in that, but we are ready to compete in work results,' Nešić stated.