Bosnia's Finance Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda said the Council of Ministers (CoM) did not pass a formal conclusion on the transport of migrants from Sarajevo to the refugee centre Salakovac, and that this matter was constantly misused in public.

A convoy carrying nearly 300 migrants left Sarajevo last Friday, at the order of the Security Ministry, but was prevented from entering the territory of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC), where the centre is located, for a few hours. Namely, the HNC police commissioner Ilija Lasic ordered a temporary halt of the convoy with an aim to, as he said, prevent unrests and secure a safe arrival of migrants in Salakovac. His decision triggered a series of reactions including the one of Security Minister Dragan Mektic who accused Lasic of a coup.

Speaking for the Tuesday issue of “Vecernji list” daily newspaper, Bevanda said that the ministers did discuss the issue of migrations and a document called the Draft Action Plan for Solving the Migrant Crisis, which was adopted at the end of the session but without any other conclusions.

According to Bevanda, Mektic left the Council of Ministers’ session to attend a TV programme in Banja Luka.

“That speaks volumes about his interpretations that something was concluded,” said Bevanda, adding that neither Mektic nor Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak attended the end of the session.