Another protest against Slovenian border fence held in Croatia and Slovenia.
Several non-governmental organizations organized this weekend a “Defencing Festival” at the Croatian-Slovenian border near Kumrovec. It was a cultural and political project against restrictive and dangerous migration policies of the European Union, reports Večernji List on June 27, 2016.
“Defencing Festival” gathered on both sides of the border fence in Kumrovec and in Bistrica ob Sotli about a hundred asylum seekers, activists and members of the local community who created a “temporary autonomous zone” that transcended borders, according to the organizers.
These towns, which are historically linked, have been separated for months by a wire fence set up by the Slovenian government to deter migrants from exercising their universal right to free movement. The programmes, which were held simultaneously on both sides of the fence, consisted of performances of musical bands, poetic-political performances, film screenings, workshops for making kites and banners, and other similar activities.
The programme included about thirty refugees who are currently accommodated at the “Hotel Porin” in Zagreb. They discussed the issues of the criminalization of solidarity, closing of borders on the so called Balkan route and the consequences of that decisions, as well as the difficulties they are currently facing, said the organizers in a statement.
The participants created a banner with a message of solidarity with eleven persons who are awaiting trial in Hungary for their involvement in the protests against border fences. “The Hungarian authorities have brutally beaten them and arrested them on 16 September 2015 at the Serbian-Hungarian border crossing Horgoš 2 during a protest which involved more than five thousand people, who demanded safe passage for all people”, said the statement.
