Bosnia’s finance ministry will secure funds to enable the evacuation of its citizens from conflict-affected areas of the Middle East, Finance Minister said on Wednesday.
“I expect support from the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, because the institutions of BiH are financed by Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH, and care for citizens and humanity must come first,” Amidžić wrote on social media platform X.
Earlier, Foreign Minister said the Council of Ministers was expected on March 5 to decide on financing charter flights to evacuate Bosnian citizens from the United Arab Emirates, amid an escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
A first group of Bosnian nationals had been due to arrive in Sarajevo on Wednesday on a commercial flight from Dubai, but the flight was cancelled. Konaković said he did not have complete information on the reasons for the cancellation, adding that the next regular flight from the Emirates to Sarajevo was scheduled for Saturday.
The largest number of Bosnian citizens in the region are in the , where around 1,000 people are in daily contact with the embassy regarding a possible departure, officials said.
About 300 Bosnian nationals are in , around 100 in , while smaller groups are in and .
A smaller number of citizens in have contacted Bosnian institutions seeking to leave the country, and Konaković said some had already been evacuated earlier.
The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, prompting Tehran to retaliate by targeting U.S. bases in neighbouring Gulf states. Thousands of flights across the Middle East have been grounded since the start of the attacks on Feb. 28, causing the biggest disruption to global air traffic since the COVID-19 pandemic.