ZAGREB, November 21, 2018 - Croatia is the biggest advocate of the inclusion of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European integration processes and insists on real equality in that country and on enabling the local Croats, the least numerous people, to exercise their rights, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday after Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency was inaugurated in Sarajevo earlier in the day. He further commented on the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The new presidency includes Šefik Džaferović as the Bosniak and Milorad Dodik as the Serb member and Željko Komšić who sits on the presidency as the Croat representative and whose election provoked anger among most Croats who hold that Komšić won the seat due to the ballots of Bosniak and non-Croat voters in the country's Federation entity.

"Croatia's position is absolutely firm and clear both before the 7 October elections and in all these years and after the elections," Prime Minister Plenković said in Senj on Tuesday evening when asked by the press if there were some changes in Croatia's stance to its neighbouring country after on Monday Croatian Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić informed her colleagues in the European Union in Brussels of Zagreb's concern about the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). At Croatia's request, the EU foreign ministers discussed the latest developments in BiH. The Croatian minister said in Brussels that: "More and more member states understand Croatia's concern about the status of Croats, one of the three constituent peoples. We expect further discussion in the near future."

Croatia has embarked on a diplomatic campaign to point out that Komšić was elected as the Croat member of the Presidency with Bosniak votes, contrary to the spirit of the 1995 Dayton peace agreement, and that the latest elections were held without agreeing on the model of electing deputies to the parliaments' upper houses after the Constitutional Court ruled that part of the election law is unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, Plenković said that it was essential to avoid scenarios in which the larger constituent people in the Bosnian Federation, and those are Bosniaks, actually elected representatives of the other constituent people. "Croatia's position is clear and Croatia will raise this issue unless it is solved," Plenković said adding that earlier in the day he had had extensive talks with Pejčinović-Burić on this matter.

Plenković said that the insistence on the real equality of all the three constituent peoples "is in the interest of the good functioning of Bosnia and Herzegovina". "Bosnia and Herzegovina has no better advocate, ally and friend than Croatia," Plenković said underlining that Croatia advocated Bosnia and Herzegovina's integration in European processes.

For more on the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, click here.

ZAGREB, November 19, 2018 - Croatian Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić informed her colleagues at a meeting in Brussels on Monday of Croatia's concern about the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and their legitimate representation at all government levels. At Croatia's request, the foreign ministers of European Union member states discussed the situation in BiH after the October 7 general elections. "The conclusion is that everyone agrees that BiH's European journey is very important. More and more member states understand Croatia's concern about the status of Bosnian Croats, one of the three constituent peoples. We expect further discussion in the near future," Pejčinović Burić said, adding that conclusions in writing would be adopted at one of the next Foreign Affairs Council meetings.

In the past few weeks, Croatia has embarked on a diplomatic campaign to point out that Željko Komšić was elected as the Croat member of the BiH Presidency with Bosniak votes, contrary to the spirit of the 1995 Dayton peace agreement, and that the last elections were held without agreeing on the model of electing deputies to the parliaments' upper houses after the Constitutional Court ruled that part of the election law is unconstitutional.

"We expressed our concern that attempts are being made to resolve everything at once. The situation is complex and we pushed for doing it in stages, first to apply the Constitutional Court ruling, and second to embark on amending the election law in line with the Constitutional Court ruling. Then, after the situation stabilises politically and when parliaments and governments are formed at all levels, one can work on what is certainly most important, reforms on the European Union journey," said Pejčinović Burić.

The BiH Constitutional Court struck election law provisions concerning the Federation entity parliament's House of Peoples, upholding the objection by Božo Ljubić, former chair of the BiH Parliament's House of Representatives and now a member of the Croatian parliament, who claimed the principle of proportionality in the election of deputies from different cantons was breached.

Pejčinović Burić said some EU member states were pushing for resolving all the issues in BiH at the same time through reforms required for EU membership, while others, including Croatia, were for a gradual approach.

She said Croatia was for honouring the BiH constitution, which mentions three constituent peoples – Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats. "The constitution can't be brought into question. One can only ask when and how to change BiH's structure in the future."

Asked to comment on the lack of understanding in the EU of the concept of constituent peoples, she said constitutionality in BiH "isn't just a legacy of Dayton, having existed through many documents much earlier."

"A long time has passed since the Dayton agreement and the constitution which is part of it. Naturally, after 20 years, Europe is going in a different direction... towards a civic principle. That's part of the problem where states have different positions," she said.

She explained the question was whether to look at BiH through the constitution and the provisions brought by the Dayton agreement, which envisage the constitutionality of the peoples and the representation of all citizens, or to opt for the path defined by the EU's acquis, that states should have a modern organisation on the one man, one vote model.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini told reporters after the meeting the Foreign Affairs Council would discuss BiH in December again.

The ministers sent BiH three main messages – to form government as soon as possible, to focus 100% on the reform agenda which BiH citizens, notably the young, expect and which is tied to the country's European prospect. It is also necessary to focus on reforming the election law and on the concern stemming from it, she said.

All ministers are agreed that we must work very intensively with all political leaders in BiH, she added.

For more on the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, click here.

ZAGREB, November 16, 2018 - The EU enlargement to Southeast Europe will be one of the priorities of Croatia's EU presidency in the first half of 2020, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković has said in an interview with the Italian news agency Nova.

EU expansion to Southeast Europe is of strategic importance for the stability of the whole of the EU considering the new geopolitical relations, Jandroković said during a two-day official visit to Italy. "Naturally, Croatia's support will be based on a credible, clear, strict and fair accession procedure, which it went through itself," he said.

The other topics that will be of relevance for Croatia during its presidency are the continuation of economic growth and employment, with emphasis on young people, consolidation of the EU's internal and external security, and energy and transport connectivity, said Jandroković.

He said that Croatia would very soon meet all criteria for accession to the Schengen area of passport-free travel and that he expected a political decision to that effect to be made at EU level before the start of the country's presidency of the Council of the EU.

Answering a question about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jandroković said that Croatia was concerned about the fact that the Croat member of the country's collective presidency had been elected by Bosniaks while a vast majority of Croats had voted for another candidate.

"It is necessary to amend the Bosnian election law in line with the Constitutional Court ruling on legitimate representation. The amendments must ensure the autonomous election and equal and legitimate representation of Croats, as one of the three constituent peoples," he said. "We expect the EU and the international community to be much more sensitive to this issue," said Jandroković.

For more on Croatia and the EU and the preparations for the EU presidency, click here.

ZAGREB, November 15, 2018 - Vesna Pusić of the opposition Civic and Liberal Alliance (GLAS) said in the Croatian parliament on Wednesday that the results of the October 7 general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina showed that two-thirds of Croats eligible to vote did not want to support Dragan Čović in the race for the position of Croat member of the country's tripartite presidency and that this was most likely why Željko Komšić won the Bosnian elections.

"If anything is obvious from the election results in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it's that two-thirds of Croats eligible to vote didn't want to vote for Dragan Čović and this is most likely why Željko Komšić was elected," Pusić said during discussion on the prime minister's report on European Council meetings and a meeting of eurozone countries, held in June and November.

"Since Komšić has been elected member of the presidency, I guess it's in the interests of Croatia and all Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina that he does his job as well as possible, promoting the interests of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina," Pusić said, adding that the fundamental interest of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina is that the country succeeds on its path to European Union membership.

She commented on the fact that parliament should soon discuss a declaration on the status of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Imagine if Serbia, Slovenia or Hungary adopted a declaration in parliament demanding changes to the Croatian constitution and electoral law, everyone here would jump to their feet and say it was unacceptable," the former foreign minister said.

Lawmakers from the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) praised the prime minister for managing to push through the issue of the Bosnia and Herzegovina election in the EU.

Joško Klisović of the strongest opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) said that the prime minister's intervention in the European Council had been necessary, but that it was insufficient and belated. "You don't think we raised the subject of electoral law with our partners only after the election?" Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said, adding that previously the subject had not been raised "in a coordinated and harmonised manner."

"The problem is that those who should hear it at that level do not see this as a problem until it escalates," Plenković said.

The international community's High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Valentin Inzko, said on Wednesday he understood the dissatisfaction of the Croat people in the country over the election of Željko Komšić as their representative in the collective BiH presidency, warning however that it must be recognised that his election was lawful just as the election of Dragan Čović.

In an interview with BHT 1 public broadcaster, Inzko said Čović was elected four years ago under the same regulations, urging politicians to form a government at all levels as soon as possible.

The new tripartite presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, elected at the October 7 election, will be inaugurated on November 20, authorities in Sarajevo announced on Wednesday.

For more on the relations between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, click here.

ZAGREB, November 14, 2018 - The Council of the European Union for foreign affairs will thoroughly analyse the general election held in Bosnia in October in an effort to resolve the problem of the "marginalisation" of Croats in that country and them being put in a "subordinate position," Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Parliament on Wednesday, speaking about Bosnia-Herzegovina elections.

Plenković presented his report on the last four meetings of the European Council, two formal meetings held late June and mid-October and two informal sessions – one in Sofia in May and the other in Salzburg held mid-September.

The prime minister expressed his satisfaction with the way his stance on Bosnia and Herzegovina and the status of the Croat people was accepted at the EU summit in Brussels in October. Within the framework of foreign affairs, Plenković spoke about Bosnia and Herzegovina following the 7 October general election in that country in which the majority Bosniak population once again outvoted the Croat population and elected the Croat member to the country's tripartite presidency.

"We consider that it is not good to have that situation, which seems to be unjust and which hinted at that the Croat people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are marginalised and that they are in a subordinate position, " Plenković told the parliament.

"The thing that we managed to succeed in and that is essential for the continuation of that debate, is that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of European Affairs, Marija Pejčinović Burić will speak on behalf of Croatia at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday at the meeting that is supposed to approach in detail an analysis of the general election in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to consider what and how EU member states and the Union, as such, can do, while trying to solve the issue, in the dialogue with institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and political parties with regard to that problem, which objectively has a very unpleasant nature for the equality of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

Plenković underscored that that is in no way interfering in the affairs of another country but that Croatia legitimately advocates the compliance with the Dayton accord of which it is a cosignatory.

Speaking of the EU summit meeting in Sofia, Plenković said that it also focused on the digital agenda and innovations as well as relations with Iran and EU-USA trade relations.

Plenković said that Croatia should invest more in the ICT sector, considering the fact that in 2017, as many as 8.4 million people were employed in that sector in the European Union, while currently a mere 35,000 people had jobs in the ICT sector in Croatia. If we want to catch up with digitisation, we must invest more in companies specialised in ICT, he added.

Plenković pointed out the significance of the EU-Western Balkan summit in Sofia, which was held at the initiative of Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. This event filled the 15-year hiatus at the level of the European Council concerning dialogue with neighbours, Plenković said recalling that no meeting of this format had been held since the summit meeting in Thessaloniki in 2003.

The EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia last May brought together the heads of state or government from EU member states and from the 6 Western Balkans partners: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo. The closing declaration about European prospects for Western Balkan countries welcomed Croatia's intention to organise the next EU-Western Balkans summit during its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020.

"Croatia is pursuing a policy that is fairly more open towards the enlargement process than policies in many EU member-states are," Plenković told MPs.

Commenting on Brexit, Plenković said that Croatia's position was that the departure of the U.K. from the Union should be orderly and well prepared after that "unfortunate referendum" was held with the outcome for the exit.

For more on Croatia and the EU, click here.

ZAGREB, November 12, 2018 - The leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZ BiH) Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik, leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), confirmed on Monday that their two parties representing Bosnian Croats and Serbs would continue their cooperation and form a coalition once the country's new government was established in line with the result of elections held in early October.

Čović and Dodik led their parties' delegations at talks held in the eastern part of Sarajevo today, after which they told reporters that they had agreed to form a coalition and define joint policies in the next four-year period.

Čović said that he wanted his party's cooperation with the SNSD to be stepped up, identifying as the main task the need to change the election law so that one ethnic group can no longer elect government representatives for another ethnic group.

Even though he lost the elections for the Croat member of the country's collective state presidency, Čović said that he was satisfied because the HDZ BiH had achieved "excellent results", which meant that it could not be left out of talks on the formation of the new government.

He confirmed that his party would launch talks with all Bosniak parties so as to define what kind of majority was possible to establish, since it was still not clear what the ruling coalition in the Croat-Muslim Federation entity would look like, where the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are vying for government positions.

Dodik commended Čović for his "constructive approach" to their cooperation in past years, not hiding his satisfaction that the cooperation would continue. He added that the two parties would offer one another proportionate participation in entity governments.

Dodik said that the purpose of the agreed joint policies was to make Bosnia and Herzegovina a candidate for EU membership as soon as possible, strengthen the country's sovereignty by closing down the Office of the High Representative and removing foreign judges from the Constitutional Court, and adopt a new election law that would eliminate the possibility of abuse, which, he said, had occurred in the past.

Dodik said that the process of forming the government would start in the Serb entity next week and that he expected it to be completed by early December. He also confirmed that his SNSD party was interested in participating in the government of the Federation entity if possible, through partnership with the HDZ BiH. He said that the cooperation between the HDZ BiH and the SNSD would not be to the detriment of Bosniaks, whose decision on possible coalitions is still expected.

Dodik added that the most responsibility for the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina now rested with the Bosniak political elite, who, he said, had to take care of the interests of other ethnic groups more so as to prevent the mistakes made in the former Yugoslavia.

The HDZ BiH and its coalition partners won 5 seats in the 42-seat House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the SNSD won six seats.

Meanwhile, Dodik has managed to cause a rift in opposition parties in the Serb entity, practically stealing one deputy from the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), which won four seats in the state parliament.

Some SDS MPs have decided to enter a coalition with Dodik at the entity level as well, so the Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) remains the only real opposition in the Serb entity, with its honorary president and outgoing State Presidency member Mladen Ivanić confirming on Monday that the party would stay in the opposition.

For more on Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, click here.

Croatia’s State Property Ministry has announced a tender for the lease of 15 tourist resorts on the Adriatic coast which were used by companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia during the former Yugoslavia. Now, 27 years after the collapse of Yugoslavia, the ownership issues have not yet been resolved and they are still registered as “people’s assets,” reports Jutarnji List on November 11, 2018.

Most of the tourist properties offered for lease are located in Gradac, a town near Makarska, where the former Bosnian-Herzegovinian resorts have been falling apart for decades, becoming a health hazard for both locals and tourists.

The State Property Ministry has now finally decided to solve this problem based on the new State Property Management Act. According to Article 71, “until the conclusion of an international agreement or the adoption of a special decision, the Ministry shall be authorized to offer for a multi-year lease, up to a maximum of 30 years, properties entered into land registers as owned by the Republic of Croatia or as people’s assets.”

The tender was announced according to the provisions of this law. The lease agreements with the best bidders will be concluded for the period of 30 years, and facilities must become operational and used for tourist purposes within three years. In the event that the real owner of the property is legally established during the period of 30 years, the new owner will start receiving the lease payments.

In Gradac, the list includes the former Trgovci facility (1,540 square metres, starting price 30,800 kuna a year), the Bosanka Villa (1,431 square meters, 28,620 kuna), and the Saobraćajci facility (3,500 square metres, 71,340 kuna). All these facilities are located right next to the sea and the resorts were used by the workers of the Railways of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Just 30 metres from the sea is a former tourist resort of the Union of Construction Workers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an area of 3,793 square metres and starting price of 75,840 kuna a year, as well as two other facilities, H2O and Mostar.

Workers of the Bosnian Electric Company used to holiday in Valter Perić. Just 20 metres from the sea is the Đuro Salaj hotel on five floors. The hotel covers 6,351 square metres and the starting rent is 127,020 kuna a year. HIT Podaca is a 1,140 square-metre building just six metres from the sea. The starting annual price is 22,800 kuna.

The Bosnian Privatisation Agency has been trying to sell the Đuro Salaj and Valter Perić facilities for years, although the legal ownership issues have not been resolved. The value of Đuro Salaj is estimated at 4.2 million euro.

In Gradac, there is also a former resort of the Robna Kuća Beograd from Serbia, with an area of 3,292 square meters and the starting price of 65,840 kuna a year.

Serbian companies and towns also owned tourist resorts for their workers in Slano, Rab and Biograd. The highest lease is expected for the former Partizan holiday resort in downtown Biograd, which covers 9,314 square meters. The starting price is 186,280 kuna a year. For the former 6,859 square-metre children's resort of the Belgrade’s Vračar municipality, the bidders will have to offer at least 137,180 kuna a year.

Although the tender is certain to draw protests from the neighbouring countries, the State Property Ministry says that Croatia is a sovereign state and that the State Property Management Act was coordinated with the State Attorney's Office.

“We are solving the problem that nobody wanted to face all these years. These are facilities whose owners have not been established, and the users were from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. On the other hand, our neighbours have sold our property, and we are just putting it into operation because the properties as they are now are threatening the health and safety of locals and tourists,” says the State Property Ministry.

"I am exceptionally happy because I think this is the only possible solution at the moment. Although we constantly hear allegations from Bosnia and Herzegovina that their assets are being stolen, the facilities have been falling apart all these years and they are now dangerous for citizens,” said Gradac Mayor Matko Burić (SDP).

For more on Makarska and surrounding areas, click here.

Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Goran Penić).

ZAGREB, October 30, 2018 - The newly-elected Croat member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's tripartite presidency Željko Komšić sent a letter to EU leaders on Tuesday saying that Croatian members of the European Parliament were saying untruths about the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and accusing Croatia of "a diplomatic aggression" on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The letter which Komšić's Democratic Front (DF) party forwarded to the media was sent to European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and European Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

Komšić said that in their recent joint statement, criticising the outcome of the recent election in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatian members of the European Parliament stated "a number of untruths about the election process in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

The 11 Croatian MEPs last Thursday sent a joint letter to EU officials regarding the October 7 general election, expressing deep concern that the Croat representative in the State Presidency was elected by Bosniaks while a vast majority of Croats voted for another candidate.

Komšić said that his letter was also prompted by "an open diplomatic aggression by an EU member against Bosnia and Herzegovina."

In a recent diplomatic offensive Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenković warned before EU institutions about Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina not being equal to the other two constituent peoples after Komšić was elected to the Presidency owing to Bosniak votes. Referring to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Komšić said that the October election was conducted in line with the existing constitution and laws even though his election is not questionable in terms of legality but in terms of legitimacy.

Komšić said that in their letter to the EU's Foreign Affairs Council, the Croatian MEPs had shown a political tendency to violate provisions of the Dayton peace agreement. "The letter by the Croatian MEPs is yet another attack by Croatia on Bosnia and Herzegovina's sovereignty, its sovereign right to decide on its election system or, more precisely, it is an act of direct interference by Croatia in Bosnia and Herzegovina's internal affairs, which is contrary both to international law and order and to usual relations between two sovereign countries," Komšić said.

Komšić went on to say that the Croatian MEPs and Croatian politicians were wrong to say that Bosnia and Herzegovina is "a state of two entities and three constituent peoples" because the preamble to the constitution, based on the Dayton agreement which put an end to the war in the country in 1995, says that Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, as the constituent peoples, determine the country's constitution together with other ethnic groups and citizens.

"The Croatian MEPs ignore the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country of three constituent peoples as well as other citizens and other ethnic groups. Referring selectively to its constitution and only to the constituent peoples, without mentioning other ethnic groups and other citizens, promotes discrimination, and excludes other citizens and other ethnic groups as a constituent of the state," said Komšić, who, even though expected to represent Croats in the collective state presidency, promotes himself as a representative of all citizens.

Want to read more about Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Click here.

ZAGREB, October 30, 2018 - Bosnian police on Tuesday afternoon started transferring by bus 150 to 200 migrants who were 200 metres from the Maljevac-Velika Kladuša international border crossing, the Croatian Interior Ministry said.

Since the border crossing was closed to all traffic for security reasons and movement was temporarily restricted on October 24, Croatian police have been monitoring the situation, the ministry said in a statement.

Allowing movement again will include the removal of barriers and bringing online of all information systems which the border police use to control the flow of people and goods. The Croatian police currently deployed near the border crossing will stay there until further notice, the ministry said.

On October 22, a group of 200-250 migrants tried to cross the border into Croatia but were stopped by Bosnian police. Migrants threw stones and other objects at Croatian police, lightly injuring two officers who sought medical attention. This was the third attempt by migrants staying in Velika Kladuša, Bosnia and Herzegovina to walk across the border into Croatia, but police stopped them every time.

The Maljevac border crossing was reopened to traffic at 6 pm on Tuesday, the Croatian Ministry of the Interior said, noting that the crossing on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was reopened after Bosnian police started relocating around 200 migrants who had been staying some 200 metres from the Maljevac-Velika Kladuša border crossing.

The border crossing was closed to all traffic for security reasons and movement was temporarily restricted on October 24.

The migrants protested demanding they should be allowed to enter Croatia and move further to western Europe. The situation has again drawn attention to the migrant issue in the region.

If you are interested in reading more about the migrant crisis and how it affects Croatia, click here.

ZAGREB, October 29, 2018 - Bosnia and Herzegovina's border police administration called on Monday on government authorities in the country and other police agencies to undertake measures they have at their disposal and create conditions to open the Maljevac border crossing to Croatia which has been blocked for seven days after a group of illegal migrants tried to enter Croatia on that route.

After local businesses and residents in the Velika Kladuša area, who are mostly feeling the effects of the Maljevac border crossing being shut down, held a protest rally on Sunday, the border police administration recalled that the situation at the crossing was under control, however, the problem was that about 200 illegal migrants were still located in the immediate vicinity of the crossing and that was why Croatia was refusing to open the crossing to passengers and goods.

A press release sent to the media notes that the border police have done everything they can that is their legal obligation and that now it is up to other law enforcement agencies and government authorities to resolve the problem of removing the migrants who have set up a make-shift tent settlement and who refuse to leave until they are allowed entry into Croatia or are provided with accommodation in Bosnia that will be appropriate for winter conditions.

The migrants don't want to return to Velika Kladuša where they were staying in a make-shift camp which in fact was just a 'muddy paddock' where they set up their tents.

That problem needs to be resolved by the entity and cantonal interior ministries and the border police can only assist in that however there doesn't seem to be any indication that authorities plan to take any action. "We have contacted them several times with the aim of removing the migrants from the said location and offered our assistance and support in line with our abilities. In Bosnia, we have less than 2,000 officers unlike our colleagues in Croatia whose border administration is staffed with 6,500 officers and who at any given moment can rely on Croatian special forces responsible for public law and order. The Bosnian border police have not had adequate support from their colleagues not even when 250 illegal migrants on October 24 tried to forcefully cross into Croatia," the border police said in the press release.

The statement added that a special task force at the state level responsible for monitoring the migrant crisis has not to this day made any decision regarding the situation at the Maljevac crossing.

The International Office for Migration (IOM) on Monday expressed concern over the situation at the crossing. IOM said that their mobile team was trying to convince the migrants to move away from that area however without any success.

The migrant crisis is a topic often covered by Total Croatia News. See here for further articles.