All trucks will be sent to just a few major border crossings.
Starting from Thursday, long lines on border crossings between Slovenia and Croatia could get even longer, since the Slovenian police and their motorway company will divert all trucks to major border crossings such as Bregana and Macelj, reports Jutarnji List on April 25, 2017.
State secretary at the Slovenian Interior Ministry Andrej Špenga says that this technical measure has been taken to help the population near smaller border crossings and protect them against noise and traffic jams. Thus, all trucks will be directed towards major border crossings, while passenger cars will be allowed to go to the smaller ones. Additionally, Slovenian police will begin to set up traffic lights and traffic warning signs at border crossings.
New major traffic jams at the crossings are expected starting from Thursday, which is a holiday in Slovenia and which many will link with the May Day holiday next week. Numerous Slovenians are expected to travel to Croatia for holidays. “We will use all the human resources we have at our disposal so that there are no long lines. I hope that our neighbours in Croatia will do the same,” said Špenga.
While Slovenia does not want to abandon the strict application of the regulations on the systematic supervision of the border with Croatia, appeals to Slovenia to be more lenient are continuing. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said yesterday that a solution to the current “unsustainable situation with long waiting times at the borders” would be found by the beginning of the tourist season.
“This regulation allows for switching from systematic to targeted controls. Croatia and Hungary have done so, and we expect the same from Slovenia,” said Plenković. Speaker of Croatian Parliament Božo Petrov used his speech at a conference of speakers of parliaments of the EU member states in Bratislava to try to push for a relaxation of rigorous border controls.
But in Ljubljana, at least for the time being, there is no relaxation. They say there will be no major changes in the border regime, because in that case Slovenia would have to leave the Schengen Agreement. “We will continue with systematic controls and only periodically carry out milder targeted controls, depending on the risk assessment and the waiting times. We are obliged to do so due to changes in regulations,” said Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar.
