The former government underestimated migrant crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which made the problem escalated to the point where it is hard to control it, newly appointed Chairman of Bosnia's Council of Ministers, Zoran Tegeltija, said in an interview for the state public broadcaster BHT1.

The issue was not seriously taken in Bosnia, while the whole Europe was discussing it and some countries even building the walls to protect themselves. Such stance, according to him, led to the situation where Bosnia had poor cooperation with neighbouring countries and the international community.

“I think there was weak cooperation among the police agencies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so that the problem escalated to the extent where it is very hard to control it,” said Tegeltija.

Bosnia is certainly not capable to solve the issue alone, because this is now a major problem not only for Bosnia but for entire Europe, according to him.

“Isn't it a crisis if anyone can freely enter Bosnia and Herzegovina bypassing official border crossings? I see here a serious security problem but also a humanitarian problem. Could any of us go anywhere outside Bosnia and Herzegovina without a personal document? And this is what's happening to us now, that there are people in Bosnia and Herzegovina for whom we don't know who they are and what's their past,” Tegeltija warned.

Most of the countries that the migrants come from, he said, are faced with existential problems but that's still not an excuse for Bosnia not controlling them as most of the countries do.

“The migrant issue is the issue for the whole society and we will discuss the migrant issue details in the Council of Ministers. This is all a result of us claiming that we don't have problems with migrants, that they won't be staying long here, that there is a small number of them, but then this number increased to the extent where we have no more capacities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to accommodate them,” he added.

For nearly two years Bosnia has been struggling with the problem migrants who use the country as a route to their final destinations mostly in western Europe. But, as Croatia keeps its borders closed for illegal migrants, they are stranded in Bosnia, in temporary shelters scattered in the country's northwest and around the capital Sarajevo.

According to police agencies, over 60,000 illegal migrants entered Bosnia since the beginning of 2018 and most of them managed to continue the journey to the European Union countries. However, thousands are still stuck in the country, whose authorities are trying to cope with the situation and with the assistance of the international organisations.