ZAGREB, February 3, 2020 - Bosnia and Herzegovina's Security Minister Fahrudin Radončić on Monday said in Zagreb that economic migration is not a humanitarian issue and that he would do everything so that Bosnia and Herzegovina does not become a parking lot for migrants.

"We have deliberately chosen Croatia for our first bilateral meeting to show that relations with Croatia are strategically important for us because we share more than one thousand kilometres of border," said Radončić who was recently appointed as the country's new Security Minister.

"Bosnia finds it exceptionally important that Croatian border is absolutely impenetrable for illegal migrants for security and other reasons," Radončić underscored.

"Not only will Croatia achieve its objectives with regard to entering the Schengen Area in that way, but it will also achieve a pragmatic position in that the route across Bosnia and Herzegovina will not be that attractive for migrants and they will bypass us," he explained.

Croatia's Interior Minister Davor Božinović agreed with his counterpart but added that it is not in anyone's interest for another or third route to exist.

"We need to come to an agreement at the EU level about the objective and intention with regard to economic migrations," Božinović added.

"Solidarity of everyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region is necessary. If the EU and we do not come to an agreement, there will be problems. I will do everything for Bosnia and Herzegovina to not become a parking lot for migrants," Radončić underlined and called on Brussels to not treat the migrant crisis merely as a humanitarian issue but one of security too.

He added that 93% of EU support for Bosnia and Herzegovina is used for humanitarian aid and only 7% is allocated for security issues.

Božinović said that he and his counterpart had agreed to stronger cooperation between border police while Radončić warned of the "alarming situation," in his country in that regard.

"Each border police officer patrols 25 kilometres of the border. In the past three years, there has not been one new police officer employed in the border police," Radončić stressed and added that the country urgently needs 400 police officers and in the long run 1,200.

Božinović said that today almost all security issues are transnational and that cross-border cooperation is essential.

He underlined that last year Croatia arrested a thousand smugglers and added that this is "one of the fastest growing forms of organised crime in these regions."

"We have already arrested 95 people since the beginning of the year. That is certainly one area where cooperation has to be additionally strengthened with the relevant services in Bosnia and Herzegovina and also elsewhere," Božinović added.

In the end, Radončić thanked Croatia for its support to Bosnia and Herzegovina and invited Božinović for a visit.

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

ZAGREB, January 27, 2020 - A training course for 18 border police, including police officers from countries of the so-called Western Balkans migrant route – Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, started in Valbandon on Monday.

The training is being conducted by the Croatian Ministry of the Interior Police Academy, in cooperation with the German Police Academy as a partner in the project, and with the financial and technical assistance of Frontex.

This is the first time the project includes police officers from third countries, primarily those along the Western Balkans migrant route.

"Considering that the Western Balkans route continues to be one of the most attractive migrant routes for illegal entry to the European Union, it is essential to strengthen the preparedness and capacity of all border police forces in EU member countries and non-member countries, with special focus on the protection of human rights and treatment of vulnerable groups," Zagreb Police Academy assistant director Mirjana Abramović said.

She added that the Valbandon practical training course would introduce its 18 participants to European legislation and procedures and ways of protecting the European Union's external border.

The training is based on practical exercises and training sessions, to be conducted by experts for border supervision and human rights protection.

"As of tomorrow, they will work together in teams and go out into the field. The scenarios have been prepared and after each case they will have to prepare an operative report in accordance with Frontex procedures," Abramović underscored and added that the project was strengthening the Interior Ministry's educational role in the region while the Police Academy was strengthening its international relations with partners in the region, particularly German federal police.

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

ZAGREB, January 24, 2020 - Germany's Minister of the Interior, Building and Community, Horst Seehofer, said in Zagreb on Thursday that Croatia was protecting the border properly and that he had no objections to the treatment of migrants by Croatian border police.

Asked by reporters whether he considered that in light of criticism by non-governmental organisations of excessive use of force toward migrants, Croatia was appropriately protecting the EU's external border, Seehofer replied affirmatively. "I believe it is," Seehofer told a joint press conference with Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović after their bilateral meeting.

"I do not have any criticism of the work of the police in Croatia and other security services," he said.

Seehofer, a former leader of the Christian-Social Union and prime minister of Bavaria, was a sharp critic of Chancellor Angela Merkel's "open door" policy toward migrants at the height of the migrant crisis.

"When it comes to protecting the security of citizens and the state, a strong state is needed to ensure the rule of law. That's how it is in Germany and that's the duty of interior ministers," Seehofer concluded.

Seehofer underscored that he agreed with Božinović "one hundred percent" regarding issues of priorities, security analyses and migrants.

"That will be a topic that we will be concerned with for some time yet," he said and added that Germany will help Croatia as much as it can to protect the EU's external border.

In that context, Germany donated ten thermal-vision cameras to Croatia to supervise border regions which the two ministers inspected after the conference.

Božinović thanked Seehofer for the donation and said that "Germany has always helped" Croatia.

"Croatian police guard the longest external European Union land border and Germany is one of those member states that understands and values what Croatian police are doing," said Božinović.

The German minister agreed with the priorities of Croatia's EU presidency and said that Germany, which will take over the presidency from Croatia in July, will continue Croatia's policies which means that this will be a "year of continuing work."

Božinović underlined that he would cooperate with Seehofer in Combating smuggling rings, and said they agreed that the EU has to help its "Greek friends" more as Greece is the first point of entry for illegal and other migrants from the Middle East toward Europe.

The Index.hr news portal on Wednesday released a video showing that police whose badges were not visible were confiscating mobile phones from migrants.

"It is not true that the police did not have badges. They were wearing badges on one of two spots as required," Božinović said and added that the police were "appropriately prepared."

"As far as the treatment of persons without any identification is concerned, they (police) conducted an absolutely legal procedure toward them," Božinović added.

Slovenia's Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar said on Tuesday that in 2019 Slovenia had returned 16,000 illegal migrants to Croatia.

Božinović underscored that it is necessary to differentiate the "number of procedures" from the number of persons returned because some migrants attempt to cross the border several times, which means that 16,000 police procedures does not necessarily mean 16,000 migrants.

"As you know, migrants who seek protection in Croatia, before Croatian authorities decide on their application, merely disappear from Croatia," Božinović said claiming that that is why migrants are returned to Croatia.

"Someone submits an application for asylum in Croatia, is issued with a certificate of international protection and then disappears," said Božinović.

"Those people are returned when they are caught somewhere in Europe and that is how we get to those numbers," concluded Božinović.

Seehofer arrived in Zagreb for an informal meeting of EU interior ministers on Friday.

More news about relations between Croatia and Germany can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 22, 2020 - The Ministry of the Interior on Wednesday presented its financial plan for this year, worth 5.9 billion kuna, and signed about 30 contracts with domestic companies which will deliver their products to police and civil protection forces this year.

The financial plan is 228.3 million kuna or 4% higher than last year, it was said at the presentation.

The increase refers mostly to salary expenditures, funds for Croatia's EU presidency and the procurement of police equipment.

Assistant Minister Cvjetko Obradović warned about a decrease in the share of salary expenditures in the ministry budget.

"Salaries accounted for as much as 76% of the ministry budget in the previous period, last year they accounted for 66.13% and this year they are expected to account for 65.69%," he said.

Obradović said that the ministry's priorities included raising the quality of accommodation for police officers, energy renovation of buildings used by police and raising the quality of police work.

1.6 billion kuna of the 2020 ministry budget is intended for public procurement, mostly of equipment for police and civil protection units, mine removal and road safety.

Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović signed contracts with some 30 domestic companies for the procurement of equipment for police and civil protection units, equipment for EU presidency, equipment envisaged by EU projects, and mine removal. The total value of the contracts exceeds 289 million kuna.

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

ZAGREB, January 1, 2020 - During the new 2020, the Croatian government plans to step up the fight against migrant smuggling, raise the minimum wage, and introduce a national pension allowance, and those are some of the steps and measures about which Hina has prepared a brief overview.

The Interior Ministry plans to continue its activities concerning Croatia's bid to be admitted to the Schengen Area and to establish a visa-free regime with the United States of America by the end of 2020.

At the end of 2019, a year in which Croatia met all the technical requirements to enter the Schengen Area, the Interior Ministry announced that in 2020 it would continue communicating with the relevant services in the European Commission and Council of the European Union.

In 2020 the ministry will continue to upgrade the system for the efficient prevention of people smuggling and irregular migrations and cross-border crime.

The authorities plan to continue improving working conditions for police officers, which includes enhancement of their material rights and procurement of equipment, education and further training.

The ministry promises that it will exert maximum effort with regard to criminal investigations of war crimes in identifying perpetrators and bringing them to trial.

In 2020, several courses will be introduced including a comprehensive course for reserve police officers, a course in Civil Protection, and a college course in criminology and public security.

Amendments are planned for the Law on Personal Identification Cards and on January 1 the Law on Croatian Citizenship enters into force which facilitates procedures for Croatian descendants to obtain citizenship abroad.

The ministry also intends to sponsor a bill on foreigners which will regulate labour relations based on a model that will be more favourable for employers.

The Ministry of Justice has announced that in 2020 it will enable electronic communication with the courts with regard to court proceedings.

After legal steps have been taken, the ministry will in 2020 publicly release Declarations of Assets for judicial officials.

The Ministry of Labour and Pension System plans to increase the minimum wage by 8.33% which will then in 2020 amount to a gross amount of 4,062.51 kuna or a net value of 3,250 kuna.

The ministry also plans to introduce a national pension for socially vulnerable elderly citizens who are not eligible for a pension based on their working life or contributions to the pension fund. This refers to citizens who do not have a working life of more than the minimum of 15 years and who are over 65 years of age and have no other source of income.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, December 14, 2019 - Croatia is making strong progress in meeting all the criteria for the US Visa Waiver Programme, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović, who is on a visit to Washington this week, said on Friday.

The minister said Croatia had managed to reduce the number of declined visa requests from 5.9 percent to 4.02 percent.

Under the US law, the percentage of declined visa requests exceeding three percent makes it impossible for a country to be admitted to the USA's Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Once this percentage goes below that threshold, talks about cancelling visa requirements can be launched.

Božinović stressed Croatia had been systematically dealing with this issue for nearly two years.

He underlined that Croatia would soon sign the Air Marshalls Agreement with the United States, given that earlier this year a direct flight between Dubrovnik and Philadelphia was launched.

Božinović said that also important for waiving US visas for Croatian citizens were agreements that Croatian Justice Minister Drazen Bošnjaković and US Attorney General William Barr signed on Tuesday whereby Croatia and the US regulate mutual legal assistance and extraditions.

Bošnjaković also visited the FBI academy in Quantico and the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Office of Training.

More news about relations between Croatia and the USA can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 11, 2019 - Croatia's Interior Minister Davor Božinović and Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković will attend in Washington on Wednesday an EU-US ministerial meeting on judicial and security matters at which they will also present the priorities of Croatia's Council of the EU presidency in the first half of 2020.

The meeting will discuss police and judicial cooperation, notably e-evidence, combating terrorism, better cooperation between European Union and United States agencies, dealing with hybrid threats and the application of new technologies (5G, drones, artificial intelligence), all of which will be high on the list of priorities of the presidency.

Therefore Croatia, alongside current Council of the EU chair Finland, is at the centre of attention in Washington, Bošnjaković told Hina, adding that a meeting like this one in Washington would be held in Dubrovnik next year.

On Tuesday, Bošnjaković and US Attorney General William Barr signed agreements whereby Croatia and the US regulate mutual legal assistance and extraditions, which is also important for waiving US visas for Croatian citizens.

The Croatian and US governments have been intensively cooperating on that since Minister Božinović last visited the US in early 2018. Alongside security criteria and an effective implementation of previously concluded agreements, it has been said recently that the number of rejected visa applications has dropped to a record 4.02%, the threshold being 3%, which is the last condition for including Croatia in the Visa Waiver Program.

Božinović will talk about that also with US Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.

Over the past two years, the Croatian police, the FBI and the DEA have undertaken numerous successful operations, notably Nana, Nexus and Familia. Future cooperation will be discussed at Quantico and the DEA Training Academy.

On Friday, Božinović will hold meetings at the State Department as well as with representatives of leading US companies from ACEBA with whom he recently discussed possible cooperation in joint projects in Zagreb.

More news about relations between Croatia and the USA can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 4, 2019 - The Interior Ministry on Tuesday responded to a news item about the illegal deportation of two Nigerian students to Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying Croatian police did not have their legal departure from Croatia on record and that they did not know how they ended up in BiH.

Abia Uchenna Alexandro and Eboh Kenneth Chinedu, both 18, have told Bosnian website Žurnal that Croatian police deported them to BiH, treating them as illegal migrants despite the fact that they arrived in Croatia with valid visas.

The police told Hina that five Nigerian citizens - four students and their supervisor - legally entered Croatia on November 12 and took part in a sporting tournament in Istria County, and that the supervisor and one of the participants in the tournament legally left Croatia via Zagreb's airport, while one applied for asylum in Croatia.

The two Nigerian citizens mentioned in the media checked into a Zagreb hostel on November 16, checking out on the 18th, settling their debts, taking their things and documents, and going in an unknown direction, ministry spokeswoman Marina Mandić said.

The police have no record of their legal departure from the country so they cannot say how they ended up in BiH, she added.

She said the police were checking if this was yet another attempt by foreign citizens to abuse attending a sporting tournament in Croatia.

The fifth Nigerian citizen arrived at a Zagreb police station on November 18, saying he lost his passport, and was given a decision to leave the country, Mandić said. However, she added, he came back to the station on the 27th and said he wanted to apply for asylum, and he is now at the Porin reception centre for asylum seekers.

Mandić said that in the meantime that person tried to enter Slovenia "but was sent back."

The students from Federal University of Technology Owerri arrived in Zagreb from Nigeria to participate in the World InterUniversities Championships in Pula. After competing in the table tennis tournament, they left for Zagreb from where they were to have flown to Lagos via Istanbul on November 18,.

Alexandro and Chinedu are now in Velika Kladuša's Miral camp as illegal migrants. They told Žurnal that police officers had put them in a van, took them to the BiH border where, together with several other persons, probably illegal migrants, they chased them away to BiH.

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

ZAGREB, December 3, 2019 - Croatian police have been commended in the EU for protecting the EU's external border, Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović said on Monday in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council.

"EU ministers of the interior know best how to assess the role of the Croatian police, who at the moment are irreplaceable in the EU," Božinović said, adding that he had a lot of meetings with his colleagues.

"There is a consensus on the issue of protection of the external border. Everything that needs to be done with regard to the common asylum policy and legislative changes in that area actually depends on whether we have secure external borders, that is the precondition, and what Croatia and several other countries represent at the moment is the EU's security," Božinović said.

He said that on Tuesday he would meet with the EC Vice-President for Migration, Margaritis Schinas, and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.

Asked to comment on criticism regarding excessive use of force by Croatian police and two cases when migrants were shot at and wounded, Božinović said that nobody had even mentioned it.

"Nobody mentioned the two cases. Right after it happened, we took the necessary activities, the prosecutorial authorities have been involved, and I contacted my colleagues in Europe right away. Everything should be done to prevent incidents but, I repeat, Croatian police act in line with national and European legislation, they are recognised in the EU and we will continue pursuing our policy," said Božinović.

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

ZAGREB, November 9, 2019 - Wearing balaclavas to hide one's identity at sport events will in future be treated as a misdemeanour, according to a bill on the prevention of rioting at sports events that the government sent to parliament for consideration on Thursday.

Fines for wearing apparel to hide one's identity have drawn public interest and it is important to note that spectators will not be punished for wearing fan memorabilia like shawls and hats but only for wearing specific items intended to hide one's identity. Balaclavas make it difficult for the police to identify perpetrators and unlawful conduct at sports events, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said, presenting the bill at a cabinet meeting.

The government today also sent parliament a bill on the Centre for Special Custody which regulates the status of the centre as a public institution authorised to represent children and adults in court proceedings and before other institutions.

The establishment of the centre is regulated by the Family Act and the government now proposes that it be regulated by a separate law.

More police news can be found in the Politics section.