Council of Ministers of BiH to pay for charter flights from Dubai for evacuation of BiH citizens

(Patria) - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konaković told the media today that the procedure for organizing charter flights has been initiated to begin the evacuation of BiH citizens from the Middle East, given that flights to and from Dubai to Sarajevo have been cancelled.

"We are not fully aware of the reasons for the cancellation of this particular route. So far, there have been assurances that commercial flights will resume. Today, we have already moved in a different direction. Since yesterday, we have collected a large number of offers for charter flights. I have communicated with Borjana Krišto and Staša Košarac. We have received some favorable offers from Fly Dubai for direct flights from Dubai. I expect that tomorrow at the session of the Council of Ministers we will approve funds from reserves to finance several charter flights that would be safer for us," he said.

He added that the evacuation of citizens from the UAE will begin in the next few days.

"We have also received offers for Oman, where the situation is more complex and prices are higher. We cannot think too much about that at this moment. Every mark will be presented to the public," he said.

He says he is in contact with the foreign ministers of Croatia and Serbia.

"They offered us help, and we offered them help, to put some citizens of Serbia and Croatia, and they put BiH citizens on flights. One such group has already arrived from Egypt to Belgrade. I believe that by working together, we are on the way to solving this problem," he said.

There were about 1,000 BiH citizens in the United Arab Emirates, and some have crossed by land to Saudi Arabia.

"We expect a commercial flight on Saturday, but also these charters," he said, adding that they are in communication with BiH citizens.