Slovenia reintroduces border controls with Croatia – what it means
- by croatiaweek
- in News
Slovenia to reintroduce border controls with Croatia from Saturday (Illustration)
Slovenia is introducing temporary border controls at the border with Croatia due to an increased risk of terrorism. The measures will be implemented from midnight on Saturday.
Dnevnik Nova TV spoke to the Croatian Chief of Police, Nikola Milina, who explained what the suspension means and how border crossings will look now.
“This won’t mean congestion and what was there before. The Schengen border is now our border. This means there will be profiling, checks, but there won’t be systematic controls, what was done before, there won’t be major crowds. This decision was not initiated because of migrants, but because of the threat of terrorism, extremism, radicalism, and cross-border crime,” he said.
Milina says the Croatian border is secure. He refuted some statements that came from Slovenia. “That is not true at all. We support this with numbers. All these people are registered and verified,” he said.
When asked if Croatian citizens will have to show documents again at the border with Slovenia, and then Italy, if for example, if they want to go to Venice, Milina says:
“It will be based on profiling, and it is possible that you will have to show documents in one crossing, but it all depends on the risk analysis. It won’t be like it was before entering the Schengen Area.”
He says there won’t be increased controls at the airports. The suspension of Schengen can last up to two months.
“This decision is for a period of 10 days, and the suspension of Schengen can last up to two months, but we don’t see that there will be systematic controls. And if there are, they will be profiled, not systematic.”
When asked how much Frontex would help Croatia at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, he responds: “There is no need for Frontex in terms of the capacity and capabilities of the police. We have more border police officers than all the countries in the region. There was not a single mention of Frontex at the border in any meeting. It is imperative for us to increase capacity with third countries,” he said.
70 percent of citizens in the Dnevnik Nove TV survey believe that Slovenia’s move is justified.
“This decision can also contribute to the effectiveness of the police. The measure is a form of prevention,” he said.
He believes that people in Croatia can feel safe.
