A group of about 50 people, mostly from Chechnya, gathered at Malevac, a border crossing with Croatia in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are trying to cross the border with the EU, but they are facing problems, the Slovenian edition of RTV SLO reported..

“They want to get into one of the EU member states because, as they said, they are fleeing from military service in Russia,” the Bosnian Ministry of Security said..

There are many families with children in the group of people at the border, and many of them said they hope they will be allowed to enter Croatia. But, according to the publication, the Croatian border guards for the most part refuse them to cross the border..

Russian citizens can enter Bosnia and Herzegovina without a visa and can stay in the country for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period. But they need a visa to enter Croatia, which will enter the Schengen zone from January 1.

One of the men in the group, Hadis, said he was traveling with children and wanted to go to Croatia as the situation in Chechnya is “very difficult” due to the war in Ukraine. According to him, after leaving Russia, they first stopped in Istanbul, and from there went to Bosnia and Herzegovina..

According to Bosnian media, some refugees also came from Serbia.. Turkey and Serbia are the only countries in Europe that have direct air links with Russia during the war.

The Bosnian Ministry of Security also said that "

Meanwhile, border authorities at Sarajevo airport today intercepted a group of 20 Chechens and Ingush, denied them entry into the country and sent them back to Istanbul, where they came from.. They all planned to apply for political asylum in Croatia.

The group flew to Sarajevo on December 28. At the border control, their documents were confiscated, and then they were kept together with their children for almost a whole day, the publications report..

The Bosnian border police did not provide more information about the said group of Russian citizens, but on Thursday Deputy Police Director Svevlad Hofman said they found that the said individuals were " The condition must be a return ticket, which the aforementioned did not have.

Lawyer Osman Mulakhalilovich said that the authorities should let a group of Russian citizens into Bosnia if they are fleeing the war and mobilization. This context must be taken into account. If Bosnia and Russia have a visa-free regime, they should be allowed into the country,” he said..

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As previously reported, Bosnia and Herzegovina agreed on the status of a candidate for EU membership.

Recall that in the autumn the Verkhovna Rada voted for the recognition of the sovereignty of Ichkeria.