November the 15th, 2026 – Austria has claimed that Croatian police have been beating migrants. Interior Minister Davor Božinović has since responded.
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Davor Božinović stated that the Croatian police have no information that would confirm claims about the alleged beating of migrants by Croatian police officers. Index reports that he also said that they have not received any official information on the matter from the competent authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We learned about these allegations from the media and the police immediately took steps to check whether they have any information about this incident. We do not have such data, nor have we received any official notification from the Bosnian authorities, primarily the police, with whom we are in constant contact,” Božinović said.
constant migratory pressure
He emphasised that migratory pressures on the Croatian border have not stopped and that the police prevent an average of up to 90 people every day from attempting to enter Croatia illegally. In doing so, they act in accordance with national and international regulations.
“The Croatian police protect the Croatian and external border of the European Union 24 hours a day. The migratory wave has not subsided, and our police officers prevent illegal entries on a daily basis, while consistently respecting the law,” the minister stressed. Božinović also warned of the problem of violence among migrant groups in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He stated that the latest information they received from the Bosnian police related to armed criminal groups within the migrant population.
are there armed criminal groups among the migrants?
“The Croatian police have been warned about the possibility of them crossing onto our territory, which has not happened. The Bosnian police later found automatic weapons and pistols in their improvised shelters,” he said. He emphasised that there are known patterns of violence by criminal groups against migrants, but that these circumstances cannot automatically be linked to the specific case. “I am not claiming that this happened in this case because we do not yet have established facts. However, we know that such patterns of violence exist and that is why we are very carefully monitoring the security situation on the border,” he said.
Božinović stated that the Croatian police will continue to decisively combat migrant smuggling and protect the Croatian and external border of the European Union, while consistently respecting the law.
