There must be political reasons behind the Friday stopping of a government convoy that was carrying migrants to a refugee centre in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNK), Aljosa Campara, the Interior Minister of the Federation, one of Bosnia's two semi-autonomous entities, told the Fena news agency.

“Politics must be behind all of this, as I cannot believe that someone could do this,” he said.

„To stop a convoy under the competency of the Council of Ministers on their own initiative, and to prevent migrants from being accommodated in a humane way, deserves condemnation,” he added.

State institutions had organized the transport of some 270 migrants, who had arrived in Sarajevo after crossing the border into Bosnia on their route towards Western Europe, towards an asylum centre in Salakovac, in the Mostar area.

But police officers of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Interior Ministry stopped the buses, insisting they return to Sarajevo. The buses have meanwhile arrived at their destination, but the developments had caused outrage among state officials.

The state Security Minister said the HNK Interior Ministry was informed of the migrant convoy a day earlier, therefore the commissioner who ordered the interception of the buses had blocked the implementation of a decision made by state-level institutions.

Campara said that decisions in regard to migrants and asylum issues are, according to the Constitution, matters of state-level institutions.

The order to stop the buses on their path was illegal, and the officers were also obliged to refuse the illegal order, Campara said, adding that both the commissioner and the officers should face consequences for undermining state interest and abusing of office.