The Russian Embassy announced that it is working with Republika Srpska to increase the tourist flow.

Representatives of the regions of Russia, Republika Srpska (RS) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are working on the organization of convenient transport routes to increase tourist flows. This was announced to Izvestia on February 24 at the Russian Embassy in Sarajevo.

"Issues related to the organization of convenient transport routes in order to increase mutual tourist flows, including through flights currently operating between Russian cities and Belgrade, are often raised during contacts between representatives of the Russian regions and Republika Srpska," the diplomats said.

The Russian Embassy noted that the potential for cooperation with BiH in the field of air travel, provided that artificially created obstacles are eliminated, is clearly visible.

"This is evidenced by the fact that even before the events of 2022, the authorized bodies of our countries discussed in detail the prospects of launching direct flights from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Sarajevo. As is known, the Russian side has officially appointed airlines in this context to carry out regular flights to these destinations," the diplomatic mission said.

At the same time, due to restrictive measures taken by a number of states unfriendly to the Russian Federation, which led to the closure of European airspace for Russian airlines in 2022, the process of establishing direct flights between Russia and BiH is currently objectively difficult, the diplomatic mission clarified.

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However, Croats and Bosniaks may block this initiative.

On October 28 last year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and former RS leader Milorad Dodik confirmed their commitment to strengthening partnership relations between the two countries. In addition, during the meeting, a thorough exchange of views was held on the situation in BiH, especially in the context of the internal political crisis.

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