After twenty-seven years, Bosnia and Herzegovina will finally take control over its airspace in the night between Wednesday and Thursday, as now it finally has the necessary expertise to do so, aviation expert and pilot Omer Kulic told N1 news portal on Monday.
“Until the war, Yugoslavia was divided into two regions, and after that war, Slovenia swiftly established this system, Macedonia did so within three years, and we are working on it for that past 15 years already,” Kulic said.
It took so long for the country to control its airspace because “inadequate people” were employed at particular posts, he said, stressing that “experts were not leading that process.”
“As soon as those with expertise became engaged, this was initiated,” he added.
But according to Kulic, that was not the only reason for the slow process. There were also obstructions.
“There were obstructions from Belgrade and Zagreb, because of money. Both Belgrade and Zagreb took loans, they needed money from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they did not have to invest anything but only to control the airspace of Bosnia,” he said.
It is estimated that Bosnia lost up to 35 million Euros by paying Serbia and Croatia for a job which the country could have done itself.
“If we would have controlled it, the money would stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia did everything in order to extend this. Serbia influenced Serbs and Croatia influenced Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Kulic said.
