144 Russians entered BiH, without uniforms or military insignia

Following information published by a number of BiH media outlets that 148 Russian special forces entered our country through the Rača border crossing late last month, there have been various reactions, and the Service for Foreigners' Affairs told the BiH news agency Patria that according to their records, 120 Russian citizens arrived in BiH.

- The Service for Foreigners' Affairs is conducting extensive investigations into the reason for their arrival, as the reason is still unknown. What we know is that 120 Russian citizens are staying in several hotels in the Laktaši area, and the hotels have reported their stay to the Service for Foreigners' Affairs. They entered BiH under the visa-free regime and can stay for 30 days – said Sanja Škuletić-Malagić, spokesperson for the BiH Service for Foreigners' Affairs.

The RS Ministry of Internal Affairs claims that they are not special forces, but artists, and states that the Ministry of Internal Affairs' suggestion for them not to register with the Service for Foreigners' Affairs is malicious and incorrect. The RS Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that they call on the media to "officially verify such information in the future before publishing it, and not to spread falsehoods and disturb the public".

Reacting to media reports about the alleged entry of Russian special forces into BiH, the BiH Border Police issued a public statement stating that the Russian citizens who entered BiH in the past period met all the necessary conditions and did not have military insignia or uniforms.

"In the period from September 25 to October 2, 2014, 144 citizens of the Russian Federation were registered at the Rača International Border Crossing, namely: on September 25, 2014 (11 people), September 26, 2014 (36 people), September 27, 2014 (24 people), September 28, 2014 (24 people), September 29, 2014 (5 people), September 30, 2014 (40 people), and October 1, 2014 (4 people).

All registered persons met the conditions required for entry into Bosnia and Herzegovina, did not wear uniforms or military insignia, and among them were women and men of different age groups," the statement said.