Slovenian Prime Minister announces the construction of a fence on the Croatian border.
At certain sections of its border with Croatia, Slovenia will set up technical barriers, including fences, in order to better control the expected inflow of refugee who have recently started moving from Greece, confirmed Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, reports Jutarnji List on November 10, 2015.
“With this, we want to direct migrants toward the entry points on the border. I emphasize that Slovenia is not closing its borders, but only wants to prevent the uncontrolled entry of migrants into our territory”, Cerar said. He added that he had already talked with Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović and that the controlled and agreed transit of migrants by train through Slovenia will continue.
Cerar said that as a human he does not want fences and barriers at the borders, but that he is obliged as head of government to prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe” that might occur in the event of uncontrolled inflow of refugees and migrants during the coming winter.
According to his assessment, the scope of the current migration crisis is too large for Slovenia as a country with only two million inhabitants, and needs to be better controlled and restricted, especially now when there is speculation that Austria could limit the daily influx of migrants to 6,000 and that Slovenia could be hit by a large wave of refugees numbering in tens of thousands of people. “I cannot allow a humanitarian disaster to occur on our territory. That is why we have made a decision on the temporary placement of technical barriers and fences, but the borders remain open”, the Slovenian Prime Minister said.
Slovenian Interior Minister Vesna Gjerkeš Žnidar warned that there is no European “systemic solution” for the refugee crisis, and that the influx of refugees to Slovenia is still higher than the outflow, which is the reason why Ljubljana was forced to react.
Cerar did not specify when the technical barriers and fences on the part of the border with Croatia could be put up, but media reports suggest that it will probably happened on Wednesday. Slovenian police will also be assisted by about a hundred police officers from other countries, mostly from countries of the Visegrad Group.
Croatian government reacted to the news with the following statement: “Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović talked today with Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar about the refugee crisis and the recent decisions of the Slovenian Government on the protection of the Slovenian border. The prime ministers have agreed to continue cooperation between the two countries in regards with the flow of migrants and refugees. The Croatian Government will take all necessary measures to protect the interests of Croatia. Croatian citizens can be certain that the Government is prepared to respond to any situation.”