ZAGREB, September 28, 2018 – On the occasion of Police Day, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday that during a time of facing the greatest security challenges, Croatia is a safe country and that is one of its “comparative advantages.”
“That is above all because with your unselfish work, you are contributing to the security of our citizens and all those coming here,” Plenković said addressing police officers at a special ceremony. He underscores that the government gives its full support to the Interior Ministry (MUP) which has made a huge step forward in the legislative framework but also in its strategy and in its operational-financial aspects too.
The prime minister underlined some of the successes achieved by the police such as a lower crime rate which has decreased by 5.2%, police activities in fighting wildfires, a high level of security when the Croatian national football team arrived after the World Cup and the establishment of the cyber crime department.
Plenković in particular stressed the commitment of 6,500 police officers “who are guarding our security and that of the EU day and night,” referring to the border protection. He added that entering the Schengen Area is the first priority of Croatia’s EU membership and that everyone in the European Council recognises the Croatian police’s contribution with regard to battling illegal migrations.
“What we need as a society is to nurture trust in the Croatian police. You are the first signal that instils security and confidence in people” Plenković underscored.
Interior Minister Davor Božinović said at the ceremony that in the last 12 months the ministry has invested a lot of effort in equipping Croatian law enforcement authorities and reorganising the police system, as well as introducing new models of cooperation and strengthening Croatia’s international position.
The Interior Ministry has now clear positions on all topics and subject-matters within its jurisdiction, including migrations, security union, new information systems and their interoperability, and the EU civil protection mechanism and financial instruments in the next EU financial perspective, the minister said.
The minister said that the most demanding security task facing the police is to prevent illegal migrations towards the EU, halt cases of abuse of the European asylum system which could subvert the passport-free Schengen Area and to thwart any attempt of opening new migration routes by sea and on land.
He went on to say that law enforcement authorities in Croatia were strengthening cooperation in tackling migrations which he described as a burning issue. He said that migrations should be controllable and sustainable and above all legal.
The Croatian national police chief Nikola Milina said that the police had made progress in all areas of their activities. He recalled that the police managed to solve a few cases of war crimes including the shelling of the government offices during the Homeland Defence War and the killing of French volunteer Jean Michel Nicolier, who was executed at Ovčara when Vukovar fell into the hands of Serb rebels supported by the Yugoslav People’s Army in 1991.
The police have also completed investigations in war crimes in Sisak, Zadar, Škabrnja and Nadin and the crimes against Croatians detained in the Serb-run Manjača camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to Milina.
He also spoke about the completion of investigations into large-scale corruption cases.
