March 29, 2023 - Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia are launching trilateral cooperation to control illegal migration, as announced by the Prime Ministers of Croatia and Slovenia, Andrej Plenkovic and Robert Golob.

As Index writes, the Slovenian Prime Minister said at a press conference in Brdo castle near Kranj that Schengen made it easier for many Slovenians to travel to Croatia and that Ljubljana's support for Croatian membership was the "correct decision" in its national interest, as shown by the higher number of arrivals of Slovenian citizens this year.

Unfortunately, Golob continued, in the same period, there was also an increase in the number of illegal migrants entering Slovenia, which is why it is in the common interest to establish as good a control over the external borders of the European Union as possible.

Therefore, the two countries, which are only transit for illegal migrants, together with Italy, the country that is their final destination, will start a trilateral cooperation for monitoring migration.

The Slovenian Prime Minister said that Slovenia and Italy are not going in the direction of directly helping Croatia to protect the border because that is within Croatia's jurisdiction and "it has enough of its forces," but rather "in-depth" surveillance, from the border to the final destination, is being considered.

Trilateral cooperation, the most important for Italy as a destination country, could be launched very soon, even before Golob visits Zagreb, which is planned for May, the Slovenian Prime Minister said.

Plenkovic: We want to send a message of reliability

Plenkovic said at the conference that Croatia has an "extremely demanding" task of guarding the EU's external border, which 6,700 police officers work on and which is why "huge" investments in police readiness and surveillance technology have been made.

He emphasized that Croatia is ready for trilateral cooperation and that the Minister of the Interior, Davor Bozinovic, visited Italy the day before "precisely on the topic of migration policies."

Plenkovic said that Croatia wanted to send a "message of reliability" and added that Golob referred to the "good impressions" of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who visited the National Coordination Center for Border Control (NCC) at the beginning of the month.

"We are ready to sign the agreement on police cooperation that has already been prepared, and I believe that these technical aspects will be resolved by the time Prime Minister Golob arrives in Croatia," said the Croatian Prime Minister, adding that the cooperation will be "effective, reliable and compliant with regulations."

Bozinovic: Food shortages and earthquakes increase migration

Minister Bozinovic said at the very beginning of the month that the number of illegal migrants entering the EU is approaching the level of 2015 and 2016.

Bozinovic then said that migrants, like before, mostly come from the Middle East and North Africa, but that due to the liberalization of the visa regime in the neighborhood, "primarily in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina," residents of countries such as Burundi and Cuba are also arriving.

He emphasized that one of the causes of the greater number of migrations were the consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine, which disrupted the world's economic flows and pushed a large number of people below the poverty line but also threatened the food supply of precisely those areas that had previously had such difficulties.

The large number of arrivals was also influenced by the catastrophic earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which occurred where many refugees from Syria and other countries resided.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated News section.

ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - Croatia's High Misdemeanor Court has dismissed the appeal lodged by Dragan Umičević, an activist of the  Are You Syrious, against a fine of HRK 60,000  imposed on him after he had helped a group of migrants in March 2018 to illegally cross the Croatian border, the Jutarnji List reported on Wednesday.

The ruling of the High Misdemeanor Court was sent to Vinkovci's Municipal Court that fined Umičević in 2018 when it found Umičević guilty of helping a 14-member Afghan family to illegally cross the border from Serbia into Croatia near the town of Strošinci, by sending them light signals from his car about where to cross the border.

Umičević helped them to seek asylum in Croatia, the daily newspaper reported today, adding that the final verdict amounts to the campaign of intimidating activists and NGOs who help irregular and undocumented migrants.

For more, check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 7 Oct 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday he had talked with Interior Minister Davor Božinović about violent pushbacks of migrants from the Croatian border with Bosnia and Herzegovina and expected a report from all relevant services to see what had actually happened. 

"Last night I immediately called Minister Božinović to ensure that the Ministry and police take all the necessary measures and investigate the matter so that we see what happened and take appropriate decisions, because Croatia, as a country governed by the rule of law, respects its own laws and international rules. We do not want any actions that might be connected with the state and that are not in accordance with our legal system," Plenković said at a cabinet meeting.

"We have a duty to protect our border and prevent illegal migration. We appreciate the role of the Croatian police in protecting the border in the last few years after our continent has become a destination for migrations, which are often illegal and led and organized by smugglers who benefit from the misfortunes of many people who for various reasons left their homes," he added.

Likewise, We Can! party on Thursday described the treatment of migrants as shown by footage of violence on the border as unacceptable, calling on the police management to leave border protection to somebody else if they were not up to the task.

Footage of masked police beating migrants at the border. (Telegram.hr)

The latest footage of violence against refugees and migrants on our borders reveals serious problems in the way the Ministry of the Interior is dealing with the challenges of migration, the opposition party said in a Facebook post, thus joining in numerous reactions to videos showing the brutal beating of migrants on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"If the current police leadership is not up to the task, it is time other people assumed the responsibility of protecting the border. The current approach to migrations is unacceptable and we once again support all police employees who do not agree with it and who have been warning about it for some time," the party said, recalling that it had warned on a number of occasions that the border can be protected without the use of violence and violation of human rights.

"The latest footage proves that we either have organized groups of thugs who beat refugees or police who remove their insignia and use force and beatings to drive people out of Croatia. Either means a defeat of the idea of a law-based state and human rights protection."

Božinović either denying the problem or announcing probes without an epilogue

The party went on to say that the Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović was "either denying the problem or announcing investigations without an epilogue."

It called on the minister and the prime minister to clearly say what was going on, who was responsible, and why they had not prevented the criminal activity on the border.

Minister Božinović said earlier today that an investigation had been launched to establish if the footage broadcast was authentic, noting that there was no tolerance to violence in the police.

Asked by reporters if he, too, was responsible if it turned out that the footage was authentic, Božinović said, "Why should I be personally responsible?"

He added that nobody had been given an order to use force, except in cases defined by the law, and that most situations on the border did not warrant such conduct.

For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 12 Sept, 2021 - The Croatian government is doing the right thing by stopping illegal migrants at the Croatian border, the spokesman for the ruling Danish Social Democratic Party, Rasmus Stoklund, told Hina in an interview. 

He would not comment on criticisms by some organisations of the methods allegedly used by the Croatian border police in turning back migrants.

It would be easy for me as a Danish politician to sit here and criticise the situation in another EU member state that first deals with the problem, Stoklund said, noting that his country assists EU member states facing attempts at illegal immigration.

The Social Democrat member of the Danish parliament defended Denmark's strict immigration and integration policy, saying that the Danish approach is increasingly accepted in the European Union.

Denmark has adopted a very clear strategy to avoid taking in refugees from the Middle East and African countries every year. We are witnessing a culture clash in many areas, notably in attitude towards work, universal freedoms and how children should be raised, Stoklund said.

Denmark has a reputation as one of the happiest countries in the world, but in recent years it has attracted attention with its "zero refugees" strategy.

Stoklund said that the long-term aim of the laws passed this year is to reduce the number of applications for asylum in Denmark to zero.

Danish media have said that the government is negotiating this with Egypt, Eritrea, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Two years ago, only 2,716 people applied for asylum in Denmark, eight times less than in 2015.

Although this initiative is gaining support in Denmark, it is giving rise to concern in the international community, with the UNHCR saying that it is against the international principles of cooperation on refugees.

Stoklund expects this policy to discourage refugees from heading to Europe. He said that the money that would be saved on support to immigrants who are not entitled to political asylum would be spent on development projects in their countries of origin. 

Stoklund expressed satisfaction that a majority of EU member states follow the same principle as Denmark - refugees should be assisted in the adjacent countries where they are currently staying before they set out to Europe.

At the last European Council meeting we were very happy to see that none of the European countries wanted to send a signal to refugees from Afghanistan to come to Europe. The countries have realised that the situation like the one in 2015 is untenable, the Danish MP said.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.