While Greece is resisting a wave of 130,000 migrants, Western Balkan countries will have to jointly protect external borders, Srpska President Željka Cvijanović said. The meeting, which she held with top officials, announced that the government would set a plan of action on Friday.
At a meeting of top Srpska officials, it was concluded that the Ministry of Interior and the Government will take all necessary measures to guarantee the safety of citizens and property of Srpska. The plan will be adopted by the Government on Friday. A joint response from the Western Balkan countries will also be necessary.
– I wish we had a coordinated relationship in the region. This is what Europe does when it protects its external borders, and we should also protect our borders, no matter what we think of each other, regardless of being burdened by certain political disagreements. I’m not sure that will happen. The responsibility lies with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Civil Protection and all republican institutions, so we will work together and this will be reflected through this plan – said Cvijanović.
BiH Presidency Member Milorad Dodik said he believed the EU had changed policy when it came to preventing the illegal entry of migrants and had entered a policy of defending the border.
– I believe that the EU has ceased its open border policy and that it has entered into a border defense policy and I support it. This policy also involves the use of force, so the force will prevent migrants from entering, and I support it – Dodik said.
Republic of Srpska MUP Police Chief Dalibor Ivanić said the Republic of Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs is supporting BiH’s Border Police in the area of illegal migration with 104 police officers, and that number will be increased at the eastern border of BiH if the situation is estimated to be complicated.
The border police lack at least 500 police officers.
– On the eastern border, along with the Border Police and SIPA, members of the Directorate and the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Srpska are deployed. However, even with immediate help, we are unable to defend BiH. border, because, say, a police officer keeps 25 kilometers of the border – said Franka Vican, spokeswoman for the BiH Border Police.
But despite that, close to 13,5,000 migrants were detained last year and this year around 1,400. The 5,200-seat capacity has been filled and, according to the BiH Foreign Office, there are currently between 6,500 and 7,000 illegal migrants. They also say that nearly 80 percent come from countries richer than BiH.
– If Frontex protects the European borders, and that is the border in Greece, it should put its forces on it, not on the Croatian border. If this wave is heading towards BiH, we must make rapid walkability without holding back refugees, because we do not have the capacity – said Slobodan Ujić, director of the BiH Foreign Affairs Office.
The question is how to ensure patency if the EU seems to have sacrificed Greece while consolidating the borders of Croatia and Hungary. The only way, according to security experts, is to do everything to keep the wave from turning.
– I am convinced that for the Republic of Srpska, but also for BiH, the solution is the reserve component of the Ministry of the Interior of Srpska and that this idea has shown full justification for this crisis. This is good for BiH as well since the frontier of BiH would be guarded on a regular basis – said Predrag Ceranić, dean of the Faculty of Security at the University of Banja Luka.
However, the intention of Srpska to provide a reserve force with an alternative to responding to crises, including migrant ones, has been welcomed at the Federation and at some Western embassies. Until almost a migrant crisis from BiH. it did not treat the institution as a serious security challenge.
Security Minister Farudin Radončić warns that if the crisis escalates, any scenario is possible. Speaking to German Ambassador Margret Uebber, Council of Ministers Chairman Zoran Tegeltija stressed that assistance from the international community was needed.
TST
