ZAGREB, March 2, 2020 – The head of the national civil protection authority, Damir Trut, said on Sunday the border police were prepared for a possible migrant wave after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan allowed migrants to head for the European Union.
Trut was commenting for the press on Erdogan’s opening of Turkey’s borders for migrants to cross into Europe and its possible impact on the spread of coronavirus in Croatia.
“The border police have plans for all activities and are prepared. Not one situation can take them by surprise. All the recommendations the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) made concerning border crossing and border checks are being respected,” Trut said.
HZJZ head Krunoslav Capak recalled the 2015 migrant crisis, saying that after several thousand migrants had entered Croatia, “the migrant wave was put under control.”
“We then prepared epidemiological instructions for all the key care providers for migrants,” he added.
In a statement carried by the public broadcaster, Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said EU interior ministers would likely meet next week.
Earlier today, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, the chief European official in charge of the migration issue, asked Croatia to convene an urgent meeting of EU interior ministers after Turkey said it had allowed over 75,000 migrants to cross its border and head for the EU.
About 6,500 border police are deployed along our border and we don’t expect the migrants will enter Croatia, said Capak. Croatia will be prepared if that happens, he added.
Erdogan has said he let the migrants out of Turkey after dozens of his soldiers were killed in air strikes in northern Syria.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency said today it was sending reinforcements to the Greek-Turkish border and that it was on high alert.
More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.
