Balkans | Chechens, who do not want to be drafted into Russia, want to go to the European Union through Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced that about 50 people, mostly from the Russian region of Chechnya, are waiting at the country’s border with Croatia to cross into the European Union.

The ministry’s statement said that these people fled the country so that they would not be recruited by Russia in the war in Ukraine, and said: “According to their statements, these people want to go to the European Union so that they will not be recruited by Russia. To be recruited in Russia.”

Russian citizens can enter Bosnia and Herzegovina without a visa and are allowed to stay in the country for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period.

For Croatia, a member of the European Union that will be included in the Schengen area, and which allows free movement within the European Union from January 1, Russian citizens must have a valid visa.

Ethnic Chechens were reportedly waiting with their families at the Malejevac border crossing between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

According to Bosnian media, the Chechens entered the country through Serbia. Serbia is known as the only country in Europe that allows Russians to carry out direct flights.

During the wave of migration that began in 2015 from the Middle East and North Africa to the European Union, many illegal immigrants got stuck in Bosnia and Herzegovina after Eastern European and Balkan countries closed their borders.

euronews