Croatian Prime Minister and Interior Minister comment on migrant crisis.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković commented about the current migrant situation in the region, which he described as being better than it was during the last year’s migrant crisis, report Večernji List and HRT on October 23, 2016.
“At the meeting of the European Council in Brussels, we discussed the topic of migration which has been one of the main issues in Europe for the past two years. The fact is that the majority of migrants now come through the central Mediterranean route, rather than the eastern Mediterranean, as it was last year”, said Plenković.
“The problem should be solved at the source, which means in the countries from which migrants are leaving because of instabilities, poverty and wars. Importantly, in comparison with last year, there are 98 percent fewer people coming in through the Balkan or Mediterranean route. I have met with my Slovenian counterpart Cerar, and we will continue to talk about the topic of border protection. We will find a mechanism together with neighbouring countries to protect our borders and prevent uncontrolled border crossings. Croatia will protect its borders, and the police have raised the level of preparedness, especially at the so-called green borders where there were some attempts of migrant crossings”, added Plenković. “There are several ways to protect the borders, but at the moment there is no need for Croatia to build any border fences”, concluded Plenković.
Speaking about the same issue, Interior Minister Vlaho Orepić said that Croatia supported such solution which was in the spirit of the European Union and based on cooperation with neighbours. “We have increased the number of police officers at the most vulnerable parts of the border. We have completely shut down the border for all illegal crossings, and this works extremely well”, said Orepić.
“We do not intend to be part of a fortress which is called Europe and create a wall on the border towards countries which are outside of the European Union. The essence of the solution is to turn all illegal processes into legal ones. Therefore, at this moment, it would be senseless to close down the border with some physical barriers, particularly because Croatia is not a country which is their ultimate destination. And those who do cross the border are being returned to where they came from”, said Orepić.
Security analyst Igor Tabak said that Slovenia’s decision to continue putting up a border fence on its border with Croatia was an internal political issue in Slovenia. “With this symbolic strengthening of border fences, Slovenia is making a gesture, largely directed towards Austria, which somehow has to be appeased so that it would not put up fence on its border with Slovenia. Another issue is what would happen if another migrant wave would arrive at the borders. In that case, these few kilometres of the fence would not make a major difference”, said Tabak.
