Children from Bosnia and Herzegovina living in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq will not be returned to BiH as long as they pose a threat to national security, Bosnia’s Security Minister Nenad Nesic said Wednesday during a meeting with North Macedonian counterpart, Oliver Spasovski.

Nesic previously stated that as long as he is the Minister, he will not allow the return to BiH of citizens from Syria and Iraq or their children, until he receives guarantees that they are not a threat to the security of BiH.

“My priority task is the safety of our children. When I say that, I mean the children who live and were born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I don't know what is wrong with the children who are in Syria today and I don't know if they will be a security threat to the security of BiH, our children or my children. I will not allow their return if they turn out to be a security threat and I will not allow them to return to Bosnia and Herzegovina as long as I’m the Minister. If you listened to me carefully, our security agencies must prove that those BiH citizens in Syria do not pose a danger to BiH. When I receive that, then I have the right to additional checks and if it is established that it is not a problem, I will allow them to return,” Nesic said.

On the other hand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia said that the return process of North Macedonian citizens from the battlefields in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan is ongoing.

“One of the priorities since 2017 is the fight against terrorism and violent extremism and the resocialization of those returnees who were participants in the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. For those who had evidence that they fought there, they were prosecuted. We returned part of the families and started the resocialization process. First of all, security and stability is the priority of North Macedonia. I believe that for those children and women who were there, maybe not of their own free will, we have an obligation to bring them back,” said Oliver Spasovski.