Two presidents to meet to discuss coordinated approach to the migrant crisis.
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and her Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor held a meeting on Sunday in Otočac in Slovenia, where they discussed the issues of refugees and borders. They said that it was necessary to establish better cooperation among the countries on the so-called Balkan migration route and agreed that Croatia will host the next trilateral meeting of leaders of Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, reports Index.hr and Jutarnji List on January 25, 2016.
The informal meeting of the presidents of two neighbouring countries was held in accordance with the agreement made at the meeting of the Brdo-Brijuni Process in Zagreb in November, announced the Office of the Croatian President.
The Slovenian media report that the working lunch between the two presidents, which was not publicly announced, was organized due to the measures for stricter verification process of refugees which have been recently introduced by several member states of the European Union. According to information from the office of the Slovenian president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Borut Pahor took up this opportunity to express their wish for close and friendly relations and cooperation among the countries on the so-called Balkan migration route.
In this context, they have agreed to hold a new trilateral meeting of presidents of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia which should take place in Croatia as soon as possible. The last meeting of the three presidents was hosted by Slovenia a year ago in the Logarska Valley near the Austrian border.
From midnight to 9 pm on Sunday, 946 refugees entered Croatia. Since the beginning of the refugee crisis, 605,557 migrants and refugees have passed through Croatia.
An informal meeting of interior ministers of the European Union about the extension of temporary controls at internal borders within the Schengen area will be held later today. The meeting will be attended by the new Croatian Interior Minister Vlaho Orepić who will meet his European colleagues and discuss with them the issue of the migrant crisis.
Due to the pressure of the mass influx of refugees into the European Union, six countries have introduced temporary border controls. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere hopes to extend the controls, while his Austrian counterpart Mikl-Leitner has threatened the Greek authorities with the expulsion from Schengen area. Slovenia has proposed that Macedonia should be given further assistance to control its border with Greece.
Croatian Interior Minister Vlaho Orepić took over the Ministry from former Minister Ranko Ostojić on Saturday. He said that one of his first moves will be to visit the temporary refugee centre in Slavonski Brod and that he will go there together with the former Minister Ostojić.
