ZAGREB, February 27, 2019 – Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović and his North Macedonian counterpart Oliver Spasovski on Tuesday visited Bogorodica, the North Macedonian-Greek border crossing where 11 Croatian police are helping the police of North Macedonia.
Their main job is to prevent the illegal crossing of the border. The Croatian police told Božinović that the patrols in which they had taken part had uncovered a majority of the migrant smugglers arrested on this route.
Speaking to the press, Spasovski thanked the Croatian Interior Ministry and Croatia as the first state which sent police to Macedonia on a bilateral basis. “I wish to honour them for their professional work and for the exchange of experience with the Macedonian police. This is an example of how we should work together to resolve global problems.”
Božinović said he was especially pleased when praise came from international partners and friends, adding that this was an example of how states dealt with transnational problems.
“No state can resolve alone issues which are cross-border in nature, from terrorism to organised crime and… more and more illegal migration. Croatian police do not protect only the Croatian border but 11 of them are transferring their experience in dealing with the migrant crisis in Croatia to their colleagues here in North Macedonia,” he said.
He said the trends in both countries were similar and that it was very important that police forces exchanged experience and were always ahead of smugglers. He added that last year North Macedonia prevented 16,900 illegal migrants from crossing the border.
More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.
