The BiH authorities have admitted that they know absolutely nothing about Croatia’s intentions to build a migrant center a few kilometers from Bihać, on the site of the former Željava military airport complex, where up to 1,500 illegal migrants would be accommodated.
While there is a lot of talk about it in the neighboring country, and the residents of Lika and Plitvice Lakes protested in February 2026 due to the plans of the official Zagreb, in Sarajevo, five months later, they say that they are not aware.
Although a few months ago the Croatian Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović, speaking about Željava, said that the MUP was still analyzing that location and that the final decision had not been made, the latest information is quite concrete.
The deadline is one year
Namely, the Croatian media write that within a year, there would be an arranged space for housing up to 1,500 illegal migrants, and, as they state, due to the proximity of the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, that location is ideal for the police, because captured foreigners do not have to be transported far and placed somewhere inside Croatia.
And while, therefore, this complete story has been a “top topic” in the neighboring country for five months, everything that is (not) being done in Bosnia and Herzegovina on this occasion can be summed up in one sentence. One could say – an incredible sentence.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of BiH has no knowledge that bilateral consultations have been held between BiH and Croatia on the subject of the construction of a migrant center at the location of Željava”, stated on July 7, 2026, from the Council of Ministers of BiH, and it is important to emphasize that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Elmedin Konaković met with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on March 18, 2026, and they discussed, as announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs BiH, on “improving bilateral relations”, and, what is even more interesting, “current political topics of common interest”.
Determined the answer
By the way, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina determined the above-mentioned answer to parliamentary questions posed by Albin Muslić, a member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He asked, among other things, whether the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina was officially aware of the plans or activities of the Croatian authorities related to the possible construction of a migrant center or reception facility at the location of Željava in the immediate vicinity of the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina. So he got answers, and it’s better if he didn’t.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not officially aware of the plans or activities of the Croatian authorities related to the possible construction of a migrant center or reception facility at the location of Željava,” said the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Is there an estimate
However, the ignorance of institutions at the BiH level about what could happen at the border near Bihac does not end there either.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina has no knowledge that the competent institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina have assessed possible security migration, humanitarian and socioeconomic implications for the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and local communities in the border area,” said the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Unlike those who sit in institutions at the BiH level, the people of Bišća are not indifferent. On the contrary. Vahidin Durić, a longtime journalist from Bihać, says that the establishment of a migrant center at the location of Željava would bring back the period when Bihać was, as he says, “occupied” by migrants.
“They didn’t even discuss”
“The location where they plan to build the migrant center is only a few kilometers from Bihać. My assessment is that it will be another ‘flood’ of migrants to the city of Bihać. At the same time, neither the cantonal nor the city authorities in Bihać have discussed the subject. I have not found that the cantonal authorities have asked the relevant ministries – the Ministry of Security of BiH and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH – why it is being built right on the border with BiH,” said Durić for “Nezavisne Novine”.
Hamdija Lipovača, deputy chairman of the Bihać City Council, says that Croatia has been acting like a not-so-good neighbor lately.
“The parliamentary resolution, the intention to build a nuclear waste disposal site on Trgovska Gora, and now the intention to build a camp for migrants in the area of Željava… Bihać and our citizens know very well what migrant camps are. The then mayor Suhret Fazlić ‘sold’ the city to foreigners ‘for a handful of dollars’, and then we witnessed that the people of Bišća were guests in their own city. Robberies, crime, murders, violence are the daily routine of migrant conflicts,” he said. is Lipovača.
“Bihać becomes surrounded”
According to him, the opening of a new camp on Željava will have very bad consequences for their neighbors in Lika, and Bihać, as he says, is becoming surrounded.
“The border will be difficult to control. I don’t know if the current mayor Elvedin Sedić had any agreements based on the model of his predecessor and mentor Fazlić, but the citizens of Bišća and the City Council will not give any consent for the installation of a new source of problems”, said Lipovača in a statement for “Nezavisne novine”.
On the other hand, the mayor of Bihac, Elvedin Sedić, says that Croatia will not even ask them if they plan to “build” a migrant center on Željava, and, in this context, he reminds us of the “Trgovska gora” case.
“They won’t even ask for permission”
“I have to be honest, they didn’t ask us, nor will any of us probably ask for any permission on that basis. But I don’t think it’s relevant anymore. According to the information I have, it’s on the ‘cooling off’, not because of us, but because of the fact that they have a problem with their local communities. First of all, with the Plitvice Lakes, where the story with the migrant camp is not in their favor, because of tourism. I don’t know if it’s been abandoned, but obviously it’s not going as planned,” says the mayor Bihać in a statement for “Nezavisne novine”.
In Korenica, in Croatia, let’s remind you, a protest was held in February against the planned construction of a migrant center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Željava, and it was organized by the municipality of Plitvička Jezera, at the invitation of Mayor Hrvoje Matejčić.
Matejčić then said that the municipality and residents want to calmly but clearly express their opposition to the plan, which he claims would include housing a large number of people in the area of Željava.
Hundreds of policemen and workers
He said that they decided to protest because of information about the construction of a center that would accommodate 1,500 migrants and between 100 and 200 police officers and workers, they write. Independent newspaper.
“You saw the migrant center in Bihać. Where are those migrants – in the center or around Bihać? We don’t want such a situation in our municipality”, said Matejčić, to which the gathered started chanting: “We don’t give Željava!”
