prijava
SARAJEVO, January 18 (FENA) - Police advisor to the director of the BiH Border Police, Svevlad Hoffmann, told FENA that the current influx of citizens of the Russian Federation into Bosnia and Herzegovina due to alleged tourist visits has decreased compared to the period towards the end of last year.
“By engaging police officers of the Border Police and consistently checking the real and legal reasons for their entry and reacting accordingly, there was a decrease in the number of citizens of the Russian Federation who come to the Sarajevo International Airport, mostly citing a false reason, which is their alleged tourist stay,” stated Hoffmann.
He said that in less than half of January this year, a total of 366 citizens of the Russian Federation entered. He noted that this information refers to the entry of citizens of the Russian Federation only at the Sarajevo Airport. He added that a small number of them also enter other airports, as well as by land.
He says they are abusing the visa-free regime between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Russian Federation.
“They land at the Sarajevo Airport and cite tourist reasons for their arrival in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For preparation, to support this in some way, they attach paid vouchers for hotels to our police officers, and they often have considerable sums of money at their disposal. Then, instead of heading to the hotel where they allegedly booked accommodation for their stay, they get into a taxi and head towards Velika Kladuša, to enter the territory of the Republic of Croatia, that is, the territory of the European Union, and seek asylum there,” explained Hoffmann.
Asked if Croatia's entry into the Schengen zone can affect this fact, Hoffmann says that this is probably one of the motives for them because they believe that once they enter the territory of the Republic of Croatia, which has been a member of the Schengen zone since January 1, then they can go unhindered to continue their journey towards other EU countries.
Towards the end of last year, an increased number of Russian citizens, mainly of Chechen and Dagestan origin, who were trying to enter Croatia was recorded at the Maljevac border crossing on the BiH side. Many of them claimed to be fleeing military mobilization in Russia.
(FENA) A. B.
