ZAGREB, February 21, 2019 - Croatia's Interior Minister Davor Božinović on Wednesday rejected the Bihać mayor's accusations about the Croatian police illegally entering Bosnia and Herzegovina in Una-Sana Canton to bring back illegal migrants who were found on Croatian territory.

"I dismiss such insinuations. These are false accusations aimed at diverting attention from the key question of how those people came to Bihać and why they arrived there," Božinović said in Istanbul where he attended a two-day conference on migrations organised by the Budapest Process.

Back in 2017 we alerted Bosnia and Herzegovina's authorities about the trend of increasing migrant tides through Bosnia and Herzegovina and suggested that they should step up the protection of the borders with the countries from which migrants were arriving to Bosnia. Furthermore, it has been clearly stated on several occasions that the problem cannot be solved by allowing migrants to walk illegally into Croatia, Božinović said.

Croatia does now allow irregular migrations and is permanently reinforcing the police force to protect the borders, primarily due to irregular migrants who are trying to enter our country from Una-Sana Canton, obviously with the permission of those who are supposed to deter them, the Croatian minister said.

The Bihac mayor, Suhret Fazlić, made the accusations against the Croatian police at a session of the Bihać town council which discussed the migrant crisis which hit this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina the hardest.

Prevention and combating of irregular migrations and enhancement of conditions for regular migrants and their integration are key targets of a five-year plan of the Budapest Process, which held a conference in Istanbul on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Interior Minister Davor Božinović, who represented Croatia at the conference, said on Wednesday that all countries along the migrant route should enhance their cooperation.

Addressing the conference, Božinović underscored that commitment to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms "is supposed to go hand in hand with the right of each country to control its borders and define its migrations policy" in order to curb irregular migrations and help refugees in need.

In his statement for Hina, Božinović said that the main conclusion of the Istanbul conference is that countries that are the source of migrations, transit countries and destination countries in Europe need to cooperate more closely.

"We, too, are registering a growing number of irregular migrants from the countries of the Silk Road route that are here – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iran. It is therefore essential to open talks and see, from the perspective of the European Union and a wider international community, how that issue should be approached and how the reasons why those irregular migrants are leaving (those countries) should be tackled. Nothing will be solved overnight but dialogue is important," the Croatian minister said.

The Budapest Process is a consultative forum with over 50 governments and numerous international organisations, aiming at developing comprehensive and sustainable systems for orderly migration. During its more than 25 years of operation, the Process has developed from an information sharing tool between European countries in a pre-EU enlargement setting to a far-reaching European-Asian forum for improving migration management. It has been chaired by Turkey and co-chaired by Hungary since 2006.

Asked about the arrivals of regular migrants who seek asylum in Croatia, Božinović said that Croatia had already taken in about 150 refugees and that it was planning to accommodate an additional hundred refugees.

Croatia is recognised in the international community as a member that participates in the process of refugee resettlement and it is proving its humanity to the extent to which it can afford it, he said.

During his two-day stay in Istanbul, Božinović held bilateral talks with his colleagues from Hungary, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Greece.

He underscored that his talks with his counterparts from Afghanistan and Pakistan focused on the developments in those two Asian countries.

The Budapest Process identifies several priority areas including preventing and counteracting irregular migration while facilitating return and readmission of irregular migrants and fighting illegal networks for migrant smuggling as well as strengthening the positive impact of migration on development.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 19, 2019 – Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović arrived in Istanbul on Tuesday to attend the 6th ministerial conference within the Budapest Process, which was launched 25 years ago to identify and address evolving migration challenges.

"I will have an opportunity to talk with a number of key interlocutors from the countries that are sources of migration and countries lying on migrant routes. This is part of our ongoing diplomatic activities, because Croatia, which guards the longest European border, is very interested in dialogue with all those involved in migration-related issues," Božinović told Hina.

The two-day conference has brought together officials from more than 50 countries from Europe, the Middle East and Asia as well as representatives of over 15 organisations.

The conference is an opportunity for Croatia to confirm that it is a country active in political dialogue and operational implementation of the policies aimed at boosting cooperation in efforts to curb illegal migration, people smuggling and other trans-national security challenges such as organised crime and terrorism, Minister Božinović said.

"Over the last 25 years, the Budapest Process has become recognised by participating states both in East and West as well as further stakeholders, as an excellent tool for identifying and addressing evolving migration challenges," the forum's official website says.

On Wednesday, the Croatian interior minister is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Hungary, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Greece.

More news about the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 8, 2019 - Croatia's Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović on Thursday attended a meeting of EU justice ministers and ministers of the interior in Bucharest focusing on the fight against terrorism and on-line radicalisation, ways to strengthen police cooperation, migrations and external border management. "Croatia has an important role on the European security scene, notably regarding the control of the longest EU land border. Croatia's accession to the Schengen area is therefore in the EU's interest as well," Božinović tweeted after the meeting.

The minister told the meeting that Croatia welcomed the European Parliament's political support for anti-terrorist activities.

The Bucharest meeting also discussed police cooperation in the digital era, cybercrime and ways of countering it. It was underlined that Croatia had already successfully launched projects that improve competences and experience in countering that type of attacks.

Božinović informed the meeting of his recent visit to Ankara and refugee camps on the Turkish-Syrian border. He underlined that Turkey was a key partner to the EU in managing migrations and that the increased pressure it was dealing with should not be ignored.

Božinović recalled that Croatia was in favour of stronger cooperation with Southeast European countries in managing migrations but that it wanted the specific situations of individual member-countries to be taken into account.

Croatia cannot accept the establishment of a controlled centre in its territory, he said, adding that for Croatia it was not acceptable that migrants saved at sea were immediately transferred to other member-countries without launching border and asylum procedures in the country of disembarkation.

More news on the Interior Ministry can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 31, 2019 - Europe will have to do more about the resolving of conflicts and finding of peaceful solutions in its neighbourhood, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on the Turkish-Syrian border on Wednesday, visiting two camps in which Turkey has taken in some of the nearly four million Syrian refugees fleeing from military conflicts in their country.

"In the future, Europe will have to do more about conflict solving, about finding peace agreements, because we have seen how much Europe is exposed if its immediate neighbourhood is... destabilised. Unless the situation here is under control, in Europe we can expect various events which we don't want to see," Božinović told Croatian reporters at a Turkish-Syrian border crossing near Kilis, Turkey.

He said Europe must utilise the strength it "realistically has" given that, economically, it is one of the most developed parts of the world. "Europe also has the resources. It's just a matter of agreeing on their use and of how much European, not just narrow national goals, come first to all stakeholders in Europe."

After visiting the refugee camps, Božinović reiterated that Turkey had invested a lot of effort to accommodate almost four million people from Syria. "The logistic support is at a very high level. There are schools, religious facilities, different courses are being organised," he said, adding that in the two camps he visited more than 5,000 children were born in the past few years.

He said the lasting solution was for the people to return to their homes and that he hoped "reason will prevail and that the EU will play a stronger part." "If Europe doesn't play a strong, active role in conflict prevention, we will deal with such crises in future too and that's in nobody's interest."

"In several weeks a delegation from our Interior Ministry will arrive in Turkey and choose another 100 people to come to Croatia. It is important, however, not to make any wrong moves in these integration efforts, because all the failures of the integration policy in the European union came back to haunt us through very radical events in recent history," Božinović said.

He told the press in Turkey that in the 1990s Croatia had one million refugees, mostly from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also from other parts of Croatia. He said that he had seen efforts made by all parties involved and a great amount of humanity. Božinović said that regardless of the fact that Turkey was doing all that it could, there was no place like home.

Božinović visited the two refugee camps outside Nizip and Kilis, each accommodating approximately 4,000 people, and held talks with camp administrators and refugees.

Most of refugees that the Croatian media talked to there want to go back to Syria but have no means to do that.

More news on the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 30, 2019 - During talks with his Turkish counterpart Suleyman Soylu in Ankara on Tuesday, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović underscored that Turkey, particularly due to its care for almost four million refugees, was Croatia's and also the European Union's strategic partner. "Croatia values Turkey's efforts in resolving the refugee crisis," Božinović said after the meeting at Turkey's interior ministry.

Both ministers underlined that this was their second meeting following the UN conference in Marakesh where they had also discussed bilateral relations and strengthening cooperation in the field of security and migration management. "Migration remains the leading challenge that requires a comprehensive response, particularly when it comes to illegal migration and smuggling networks that have recently intensified their activities on alternative routes," Božinović said.

Soylu recalled the historical ties between Croatia and Turkey, adding that relations with Croatia would continue to be important in the future too. "We have similar thoughts. We had an opportunity to discuss relations between Croatia and Turkey. We exchanged opinions on the issues of terrorism and drug smuggling, and agreed to fight that together," he said.

He expressed hope that when Croatia chairs the Council of the EU in 2020, Turkey would progress toward the European Union, particularly because the presidents of the two countries had already agreed to intensify relations.

Božinović said that security would be one of Croatia's priorities during its EU presidency, including migration, border security, the fight against terrorism, organised and cybercrime.

On Wednesday, the Croatian delegation will visit refugee camps on the Syrian border.

According to UNHCR data, there are currently 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees in Turkey. According to an EU-Turkey agreement, Turkey receives six billion euro from Europe and Croatia has so far paid in 5.7 euro million for that purpose. In the fourth quarter of this year, Croatia will contribute an additional 250,000 euro and a further 3 million euro in a total of 10 instalments from 2019 to 2023.

According to data from the Croatian Interior Ministry, 152 Syrians have been integrated into Croatian society to date following a 2015 decision that has been implemented by the present government. In October 2017, the government decided to accept an additional 100 refugees.

More news on the refugee crisis can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 29, 2019 - Croatia very quickly recognised that the fight against terrorism is a pledge of the stable development of the contemporary world, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Monday after a meeting with the European Union's Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove.

"From the very start, Croatia has been very active in that process. It very quickly recognised that the fight against terrorism is a pledge of a stable development of the contemporary world, completely aware that that is, above all, the responsibility of national states. However, regional cooperation too, particularly through EU membership, can bring some added value, given that along with a majority of other security challenges today, not one state can deal with that on its own," Božinović said.

He noted that this is De Kerchove's first visit to Croatia although he had met with him in Brussels on several occasions, as this is an issue of common interest, particularly regarding the current issue of the EU's comprehensive approach to the fight against terrorism through external and internal aspects.

Božinović added that the talks with the EU coordinator focused on the main objectives considering the EU's Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy that started immediately after the 9/11 attack in the USA, when the first strategy was adopted based on UN Resolution 13/73.

Europe adopted its strategy in 2005 in several areas above all related to protecting public spaces, improving preparedness against chemical-biological and radiological challenges and suppressing financial terrorism.

"Unfortunately, terrorist attacks haven't stopped in Europe and those committed in 2015 additionally motivated the EU to take action for further and faster solutions primarily aimed at protecting EU residents. One of the contributions of those enhanced activities led to the establishment of a special position in the European Commission – the counter-terrorism commission which is tasked with the implementation of the European security programme related to issues concerning the security of citizens, preventing radicalisation and protecting national values as well as strengthening international cooperation in this region," Minister Božinović underlined.

As far as Croatia is concerned, he added, as part of its preparations to enter the Schengen Area, it has achieved a certain level of cooperation that has been recognised in the EU.

Also, the directives and regulations that Croatia has implemented are the direct result of the implementation of the European security programme.

"Naturally, we are all faced with the challenge of improving the interoperability of our systems. We are faced with a challenge and Croatia sees that as a challenge for itself and its own institutions as well as a new challenge as part of our preparations to chair the Council of the EU in 2020...security issues will be at the top of the agenda of matters that are discussed in the EU," Božinović added.

He claims that Croatia is developing a third dimension that is related to international cooperation and not only with countries in the region but intensively with 'third partners' particularly the USA, "where we have achieved a unique, intense cooperation and have signed a memorandum of entering the USA's international terrorist data base."

That memorandum was signed last year in Dubrovnik, Božinović recalled. Croatia also had very intensive cooperation with Israel and a Croatian delegation, led by Božinović, is travelling to Turkey where cooperation in the fight against terrorism will also be one of the essential issues in bilateral talks.

Gilles de Kerchove said that he sees Croatia's chairmanship of the Council of the EU as a challenge, saying he would be pleased to be able to assist. I do not think it is a secret that I believe that security issues are one of the greatest concerns for the new commission, he said.

As a member of the EU, Croatia has to be a member of certain agencies, given the fact that it has neighbours, some of which have been faced with challenges. I think that of more than 100,000 people who went to Iraq, some have joined ISIL, violated the law by joining Jihad and their return is still questionable. The question of how to stop the spreading of Jihad is also important, he underscored.

The EU anti-terrorist coordinator said that the EU had taken big steps over the past three or four years with regard to security issues within the Union's borders but also regarding the Schengen borders. It is good that we don't have growing terrorism in Croatia, De Kerchove said.

De Kerchove believes that, because Croatia is familiar with the region, it can be of assistance to countries in the Western Balkans in meeting their obligations, as security is one of the most important issues for accession to the EU.

More news on the security issues in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.

Theresa May's withdrawal agreement with the European Union suffered a historic defeat recently. The British prime minister had delayed the vote which was due to take place back in December 2018 when she realised she was set to suffer the aforementioned historic defeat. Why she thought simply delaying the inevitable was a good idea is beyond me, but so is the entire notion of Brexit itself.

My political views aside, let's get to the point of this article. Point number one is that the article I wrote a while ago about what Theresa May's former withdrawal agreement means for British citizens living in Croatia is now likely void for the most part. We all love wasting our time, don't we?

The second point is that you don't need to worry about anything, well, no more than you would already anyway. You may have noticed that many EU countries have publicly declared their plans for making sure British citizens don't become Brexit's collateral damage (anymore than already, that is), and don't fall victim to the United Kingdom's bizarre desire to enact Brexit and leave the world's largest trading bloc. You're likely wondering why Croatia hasn't done so yet, at least not publicly. As Lance Corporal Jack Jones would have said: Don't panic.

Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands are just some of the EU countries to have come forward and assured Brits living and working in their countries that plans are firmly in place to make sure their lives go on undisrupted by this utter mess. That's a little too late for many after years of inexcusable limbo, but it's very welcome for many nonetheless.

But what about other countries, you might ask? What of, let's say, Romania? Romania has been eerily quiet on the matter despite having been given assurances that Romanian citizens living and working in the United Kingdom will remain protected and have their rights enshrined into UK law regardless of the Brexit outcome. The same assurances, with all due respect to Britain, have been given repeatedly to all other EU citizens legally residing in Britain. A new system has been set up which promises to be simple and as recent announcements have confirmed - totally free.

The UK has dropped its former demand for £65 for ''settled'' and ''pre-settled'' status after listening to the concerns of many, and EU citizens in the UK now have a very clear way of securing their rights before June 2021. The UK hasn't done much right since the non-binding referendum delivered a shock Leave result, but in making sure to put citizens and their acquired EU treaty rights first, it has been firm.

Everyone knows Croatia likes to drag its heels. It doesn't mean anything bad by it really, that's just what it does. That being said, it will gladly bow to whatever the EU asks of it, but in its own time. What do I mean by this? Well, to put it simply, MUP (Croatian Ministry of the Interior) has stated when asked (probably repeatedly) by Balkan Insight that there will be ''special rules'' in place for British citizens who have legal residence (biometric permit) in Croatia.

As Balkan Insight writes on the 22nd of January, 2019: ''The Interior Ministry in Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013, told BIRN that “special rules will be applied UK citizens who, on March 29, 2019, have regulated status of foreigner in the Republic of Croatia, which will allow [them] to maintain the right of residence.” But the ministry said it was “still developing in details the modalities of residence” of British citizens in Croatia after Brexit and how new documents would be issued.

The goal, it said, would be to allow British citizens and their families who have regulated status continued access, without restrictions, to the Croatian labour market. According to official data, currently 659 British citizens have regulated status in Croatia – 277 permanent residents and 382 with temporary residence.

The British embassy in Zagreb said it expected Croatia to reciprocate the commitment London made with regards the rights of citizens from the EU residing in Britain in the event of a no-deal scenario.''

So, what does this actually mean? It means that British citizens in Croatia can expect forthcoming reassurances like those which have been provided by a growing number of EU countries about their status, but the details must be finalised first. MUP knows it needs to do something. In any case, with assurances pouring in from other EU countries confirming the legal residence status of British citizens living in their countries, Croatia is sure to follow, just in its own time. Ever the lover of red tape and miraculously turning one sheet of paper into ten, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Croatia is dragging its heels. 

In any case, although the majority of what I wrote in my last article is now void (cheers, Theresa), what remains to be true is that as long as you hold a residence card and are known by the system, you don't need to worry.

You can apply for permanent residence when you've reached five years as you normally would for now, and if you're nowhere near that five year mark yet, just make sure you're properly registered and have a residence card that is valid.

Nobody wants to punish anybody for acting on their EU treaty rights, least of all Croatia after having the rights of its citizens guaranteed and set to be enshrined by London long ago, so make sure to follow us for any updates as we'll be sure to bring them as soon as we're informed of any, should the UK ever actually leave the EU at all.

Make sure to follow our dedicated politics page for more.

Photos of a mysterious “rocket system,” which can be seen on the streets of Zagreb, have been making rounds on the social networks for days. The photos show what appears to be a rocket (or a missile model) pulled by a van on a special trailer. The missile, the trailer and the van are all painted in the distinctive military olive-green colour, although neither the trailer nor the van have military license plates, reports Jutarnji List on January 17, 2019.

Citizens are confused and concerned, and no one seems to know why a rocket would be driven around Zagreb.

The unusual sight was reported from numerous locations in the city. It was first seen six days ago, and last time yesterday at Vukovar Street, near the city centre.

After the news reports and worried calls from the concerned citizens, the Zagreb Police Department has issued a statement on its website, explaining that the rocket is actually a tin model owned by a 46-year-old man from Zagreb.

"Following numerous inquiries by members of the public, concerning the van with a ‘missile’ on a trailer, the Zagreb Police Department has launched an investigation and determined that the vehicle in question is a Peugeot Boxer van, with Zagreb licence plates and a trailer. The vehicle and the trailer were found today, on January 17, at about 9 am in Sveta Nedjelja, near Zagreb. It has been established that the rocket is a tin model, owned by a 46-year-old man from Zagreb. During a conversation with the owner, it was determined that he himself made the model from a sheet of tin metal. The rocket is about 10 metres long and weighs about 200 kilograms. The goal of the project is to attract the attention of potential business partners who might want to use it for promotional purposes. No elements of any misdemeanours or crimes have been established,” announced the Zagreb Police Department in the statement.

For more news on Zagreb, visit our special section.

Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Damjan Raknić). 

ZAGREB, January 16, 2019 - Thanks to the efforts of the police, emergency medical services, firefighters and Winter Road Maintenance, six children, five women and four men who illegally entered Croatia as migrants have been rescued from severe winter weather, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

Police caught a number of persons in need of medical assistance on Plješivica mountain in severe weather on Tuesday afternoon. Given the inaccessible terrain and high snow, firefighters and Winter Road Maintenance were called in to clear the snow.

The children aged 1 to 10 and the women received medical assistance on the scene before being taken to Gospić General Hospital. Two women were hospitalised while the other persons are at a local police station for identification.

The Interior Ministry last month warned that the winter weather could be fatal for everyone, notably vulnerable groups, attempting to illegally enter Croatia.

Today the ministry called on NGOs and others doing humanitarian work with migrants on the Balkan route to inform them about the rules for legally entering Croatia and to warn them about the dangers of attempting to enter illegally.

More news on the migrant situation in Croatia and the region can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 28, 2018 - The Ministry of the Interior and a group of local companies on Friday signed a 53 million kuna framework agreement for the purchase of roadside police speedometers, under which the number of these devices will increase threefold over the next three years.

Currently 26 fixed-position speed cameras are used, and under the agreement an additional 75 cameras of this type will be obtained.

Furthermore, police will be provided with 50 stationary radars plus 100 handheld laser speed guns.

The agreement specifies the amount of newly installed devices for each of the next three years. These devices will also be used to detect other traffic offences such as the use of mobile phones or failure to buckle up while driving, apart from measuring the speed of moving vehicles.

These technical improvements will lead to an integrated system of detection of traffic offences and fining of offenders, according to Minister Davor Božinović who today signed the agreement with the executives of the companies. "This is a great headway," he said, underscoring that the purpose of the purchase of speed control devices is to increase traffic safety.

Božinović said that so far this year the death toll on the country's roads had reached 313, with over 30,000 traffic accidents registered in the first 11 months of the year.

Over the last weekend before Christmas, about 3,700 traffic accidents were reported, and two persons were killed. As many as 12 percent of drivers caught driving under the influence and 35 percent of those booked for speeding were repeat offenders, the minister warned.

More news on the Croatian police can be found in our Politics section.