Escalation of the migrant crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be avoided if all government levels work together and cooperate, said Bosnia's Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak on Wednesday.

Speaking for N1, Crnadak said the border closing measures always have a domino effect because it triggers other countries to do the same. He noted that the issue of migrants in the region was discussed at the meeting of the Central European Initiative (CEI) held in Split on Monday and that “it was confirmed this should be a subject of cooperation in the region and wider.”

Crnadak’s statement came a day after Director of Bosnia’s Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, Slobodan Ujic, announced that the country may close its eastern borders with Serbia and Montenegro if Austria and Slovenia – countries west of Bosnia – close their borders to migrants first.

“There is a continuous work between the European Union and Turkey, many channels of cooperation have been opened. Bosnia and Herzegovina has to do its part, so that our agencies cooperate, work together, so that this matter does not jeopardise anyone,” said Crnadak.

Commenting the issue of the arrested Bosnian citizen in Turkey, a student who was apprehended under suspicion of being a member of a terrorist organization, Crnadak said that Bosnia’s embassy in Turkey did everything it was supposed to do in this case, and that now it remains to be seen how it will all end.

The Bosnian student was released pending trial, after a Friday hearing before the relevant court in Turkey.

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