Bosnian authorities claim the actual numbers are much lower.
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said in Dubrovnik on Tuesday that people should face the fact that there are thousands of fighters of the so-called Islamic State who are returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina, adding that “influence of other countries” in Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be ignored, reports Večernji List on December 7, 2016.
Commenting on the statement by Bosnian Minister of Security Dragan Mektić, who said that allegations about the growing threat of radical Islamism in Bosnia and Herzegovina were “false and unfounded”, the President said that people should face the truth. “There are thousands of people who have returned to Bosnia, and we also cannot ignore the influence of some other countries. I want Bosnia and Herzegovina to remain a united country, and we fully support sovereignty and political independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I want it to quickly as possible become a member of NATO and the European Union. My wish is for all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, members of all three constituent peoples, to live in peace and prosperity”, said the President.
She pointed out that she wanted absolute security on Croatian borders. Croatia shares more than a thousand kilometre long border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croats are one the three constituent peoples in Bosnia and we have an obligation as one of the signatories of the Dayton Agreement, said the President.
Reacting on Wednesday to President’s statement, Deputy Defence Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sead Jusić said that the statement was “seriously worrying”, adding that Bosnian security services are aware of significantly smaller numbers.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the two-day International Conference on Security Challenges in Europe, Jusić reacted to the President’s claims. “She is a very relevant person, because she manages intelligence and security services in Croatia”, said Jusić. “If this is true, then we have a serious problem, both we in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the whole region. If it not true, then we have an even more serious problem”, said Jusić.
Asked by reporters about the actual numbers, Jusić said that Bosnian Minister of Security Dragan Mektić said that on foreign battlefields there were around 140 people from Bosnia, and that about 50 of them had died. “We are talking about dozens or about a hundred people”, said Jusić. He added that all people returning from foreign battlefields represented a security issue. “These people are being monitored, they are all under security and intelligence control”, he said and reiterated that Bosnia and Herzegovina had passed a law forbidding its citizens from going to foreign battlefields, which gave “extraordinary results”.
Many of these people have been detained and brought to justice, and that had a positive effect, this year and last year, said Jusić. He said that he expected a reaction of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and that they will demand an explanation from the Croatian side.
