The migrant crisis ended long time ago, but the controversial fence is still there.
Two years after the barbed wire fence was constructed on a large section of the Slovenian side of the border between Croatia and Slovenia, the Slovenian government is still not even thinking about possibly removing it, although the migrant crisis which was the cause for the fence to be put up in the first place ended long time ago. On the contrary, the Slovenian authorities are spending millions in order to fix its broken sections each year, according to Deutsche Welle, reports Večernji List on November 8, 2017.
Although the wire which the Slovenian authorities set up two years ago on the border with Croatia was last in the focus of attention of the media and the public long time ago, it still represents an issue for people living close to the border on both sides, who have to live with the barbed wire fence every day.
Marko Marinac, a 26-year-old from Lisca, a settlement in the Klana municipality along the border with Slovenia, is one of those who cannot escape the wire, regardless of whether he is walking his dog or going to work in Slovenia. “The wire is not only dangerous, but it’s an ugly sight. It is like we’re in jail or a prisoner of war camp,” said Marinac.
In his opinion, the wire fence should not be at the border, because it is of no use there. “Maybe the fence had some reason to exist at the time of the migration crisis, but today, when there are no more migrants, it doesn’t make any sense. But, somebody probably earns good money from the wire fence,” said Marinac, pointing out that the fence is particularly bad for his town which traditionally maintains close ties with Slovenia and the Slovenians across the border.
There are many mixed Croatian-Slovenian marriages in the area, and many locals even have dual citizenship. Marinac is one of them.
The fact that there are people earning good money on the fence is confirmed by reports in the Slovenian media, according to which, the Slovenian Army and companies responsible for maintaining and setting up the fence at the state border will get about 4.5 million euros just this year.
The fence was put up during the migrant crisis which hit countries on the so-called Balkan route in late 2015 and early 2016. Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees passed through the Croatian-Slovenian border, but almost all of them did it at an official border crossing, in an organised effort by the two governments. The number of illegal migrants who tried to cross the border elsewhere, whom the fence is supposed to stop, was minimal.
