Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Elmedin Konaković told journalists today in Sarajevo, regarding the current situation in the Middle East, with reference to the evacuation of BiH citizens from the Gulf countries, that a new flight from Dubai is expected on Saturday and that there are offers for charter flights in the following days.
“Today’s flight from Dubai was canceled and we are not fully aware of the reasons for the cancellation of this particular line. We have already left in other directions, waiting for the new flight on Saturday, which some of our citizens were informed should take place,” said Konaković.
The head of BiH diplomacy pointed out that a large number of offers for charter flights have been collected since yesterday, and that he is in contact with the chairperson of the BiH Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišta, and the relevant minister, Staša Košarac, in order to activate the reserve funds.
He added that they received favorable offers from the Fly Dubai company for direct flights from Dubai, and that the Council of Ministers is expected to approve funding for several charter flights tomorrow, which would be safer than commercial ones.
He emphasized that all funds and expenses will be completely transparent and publicly presented, and that he is in constant contact with the foreign ministers of Serbia and Croatia who have offered help.
“One group of citizens has already arrived, three of our citizens arrived in Belgrade from Egypt. We have information that three female students are on the flight to Podgorica, which took off this morning. We are in constant contact with the executive directors of Croatia Airlines, Air Serbia, with whom we are connected by the relevant ministers. We are trying to solve the problem with joint forces and evacuate all our people,” Konaković said.
He specified that there were about a thousand of our citizens in the Emirates, about 300 in Qatar, a hundred in Kuwait, and several dozen in Bahrain and Oman, while some had already crossed overland to Saudi Arabia thanks to the help of the government there, which made it possible to obtain visas at the border crossings.
Konaković emphasized that, although the lists are not completely arranged, that a commercial flight is expected on Saturday, as well as charter flights that should be financed by the decision of the Council of Ministers.
“Our people should follow the rules of the road and not put themselves at risk, especially since Iran is now targeting American targets, and there were also announcements that attacks could also affect economic facilities that are considered civilian. The situation is being monitored very carefully, and communication with citizens is good, so far we have not heard that anyone was denied information,” concluded BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković.
