ZAGREB, December 27, 2018 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović and Jesuit Refugee Service director Tvrtko Barun on Thursday signed an agreement on cooperation in the integration of persons relocated from Turkey whereby Croatia, according to the minister, is confirming it is an open country and that it is willing to receive a certain number of persons who meet international protection requirements.

Croatia is confirming the continuity of its policy of receiving people in need of international aid and that it can relate to the problems of people who cannot have safe lives in their home countries, but it is doing so in a rational and sustainable way, Božinović said after the signing ceremony at the ministry.

He recalled that in 2015 the government adopted a decision on the integration of 150 refugees but that the decision was implemented by the next government in 2017. In October 2017, the government adopted a decision on the integration of another 100 refugees and the agreement signed today applies to them, given that the initial 152 refugees from Syria have been successfully integrated, he said.

That is what Croatia committed to do, and when it comes to the relocation of refugees from Italy, Croatia has expressed greater willingness than was the willingness of those people to come to Croatia, given that only 82 have been integrated, Božinović said.

The integration process requires the cooperation of a number of institutions, he said, adding that there have been no problems with integration in local communities. "It's in our interest that those people start leading normal lives, that children go to school and their parents work," he said, adding that Croatia, although a transit country, wanted to contribute to an internationally acceptable model for dealing with the refugee issue.

However, Croatia cannot withstand or take on the burden of the unsuccessful migration policy on the global front which we have been witnessing this century, Božinović said.

On the one hand, refugee relocation is an expression of international solidarity and a sharing of responsibility with the countries hit hardest by refugee pressure, while on the other it is a tool for managing migration so as to prevent human trafficking, Božinović said.

"In this way Croatia confirms its policy, which has been presented many times both to the Croatian and the international public, that Croatia is an open country, but that it will protect its borders. Croatia will be able to draw 430,000 euro in aid to integration activities led by the Jesuit Refugee Service," Božinović said.

The head of the Jesuit Refugee Service for Southeast Europe, Tvrtko Barun, said they were happy and proud to be able to put their knowledge and experience at the disposal of Croatia, the Ministry of the Interior and the non-governmental sector to help with the integration of about 100 refugees to be resettled from Turkey to Croatia.

The refugee integration programme includes learning of the Croatian language and employment as the final goal for long-term integration.

Barun said it would help refugees to become effectively integrated into society, receive money for everyday living expenses and contribute to society in which they have found safety and protection.

Unlike irregular migrants, these people know that Croatia will be the country of their future and as soon as they come, they will start the process of integration with language learning. Children are included in classes very quickly and can speak the language well within two or three months, helping their parents to integrate sooner, Barun said.

He said that finding work would not be a problem because a lot of employers were interested in cooperation.

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

ZAGREB, December 20, 2018 - Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic on Wednesday commented on the forthcoming transfer of Sandra Zeljko, a corruption suspect in a travel allowance scam, to his ministry.

Božinović said that as a result of government efforts to downsize the public administration, several agencies had been merged and added to the Interior Ministry, including the Mine Clearance Office where Zeljko works.

Zeljko is suspected of collecting fictitious travel expenses while serving as a secretary in the Prime Minister's Office.

The USKOK anti-corruption office has indicted Tomislav Saucha, chief of staff in the Prime Minister's Office during the term of the SDP-led government, and his secretary Zeljko for defrauding the state budget of over 580,000 kuna. Saucha was also accused of sharing the profit with Zeljko, a former key witness in this case.

USKOK suspects that Zeljko continued to collect fictitious travel expenses even after the end of Saucha's term in the government. Zeljko is now also suspected of forging the signatures of Saucha's successors Neven Zelić and Davor Božinović himself, from March 2016 to February 2017, collecting nearly 350,000 kuna in fictitious travel expenses.

Božinović explained that during the merger of the agencies the Interior Ministry also takes over their staff.

He said that Zeljko has been on sick leave for a long time and that a medical board would be requested to assess whether she was fit to continue her duties considering her long absence from work.

More news on the corruption cases in Croatia can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 14, 2018 - A ceremony was held in Zagreb on Friday to mark the completion of renovation work on the Interior Ministry facility, arms depot "Gaj", for which the US government donated one million dollars, and in attendance were also Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović and US Ambassador William Kohorst.

Ambassador Kohorst said that the donation would have a far-reaching effect in terms of better security of the ministry's arms storage facilities and the safety of its employees.

The programme will also increase the general security of Croatian citizens and the country's neighbourhood, Kohorst said, adding that the project was also a symbol of partnership between Croatia and the United States.

"Our two countries have been developing good, partnership-based relations in many areas, and the Ministry of the Interior and Croatian police have been reinforcing their very successful strategic, operational and educational cooperation with US law enforcement agencies. We are focusing on joint action with the aim of preventing and solving crimes that are a serious threat to peace and that cross-national borders. Croatia is in an important geopolitical and geostrategic region, at an intersection of many routes," Božinović said, thanking the US government for the donation.

Recalling Croatia's war experience and the still too large number of mines left over from the war, Božinović said that investing in mine protection was one of the key security issues.

The United States has recognised the importance of mine protection and explosive and weapons storage in Croatia as well as of activities of the Ministry of the Interior's mine action service, said Božinović.

He recalled that the partnership between the two countries was additionally confirmed last summer with a memorandum on terrorist screening, which, he said, additionally improved the quality of the joint, global fight against terrorism and prevention of illegal migrations.

The US donation was used to purchase protective ballistic equipment and tool kits for destruction of explosive devices as well as to renovate the warehouse complex. Once it is fully completed, the depot will serve to store weapons, munitions and explosive devices from eastern Croatia.

More news on the cooperation between Croatia and the United States can be found in the Politics section.

 ZAGREB, December 11 (Hina) - Croatian Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović, on Tuesday dismissed accusations by Human Rights Watch (HRW) levelled against Croatian law enforcement authorities about police violence against migrants.

"The Croatian police protect the Croatian border, protect the European Union's external border in compliance with the Croatian laws and Schengen Zone rules. They have done that and are doing that in a professional manner. Had it not been so, Croatia would not have received commendations from the relevant members of the EU institutions for the way it is coping with the migrant crisis," Božinović said in Marrakesh on Tuesday.

The New York-based HRW says that Croatian police are turning migrants back to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in some cases violently, denying them the opportunity to apply for asylum. The organisation interviewed 20 people, including 11 heads of families and one unaccompanied boy, who said that Croatian police deported them to Bosnia and Herzegovina without due process after detaining them deep inside Croatian territory.

In response to this criticism, Minister Božinović said that all those objections had been made by people whose attempts to enter Croatia illegally were foiled.

The police check any reported case of violence and maybe somebody would be happier if we managed to find some evidence, but we haven't found anything to corroborate the accusations, the minister said.

Asked by the press if it is possible to safeguard the border without the use of force, he answered that "the police are trained to do so."

He underscored that the Global Compact for the Safe, Orderly and Regular Migrations, endorsed in Marrakesh on Monday, made a distinction between migrants and refugees, and that the majority of those coming to the Croatian borders are not refugees but migrants for economic reasons.

More news on Croatia’s migration policies can be found in our Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 10, 2018 - Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović is attending the Marrakesh migration conference. He said that until now the UN had never systematically dealt with migration and that if it had, perhaps the big migration crisis which hit Europe in 2015 could have been avoided.

"This is a global problem which the United Nations has decided to start dealing with. The pace it will take is uncertain and how long it will take is also uncertain. However, it's a fact that a solution to a global challenge can be sought only globally," Božinović told Croatian reporters ahead of a meeting on Monday and Tuesday at which representatives of over 100 countries are expected to endorse the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

Asked if one should be afraid of this document, he said there was "absolutely nothing" to fear about it.

"It is a document which I would say is a process of regulating migration in the future so that we don't have what we have on Croatian borders today. On the one hand, there are countries from which people are coming and one should address why they are coming, how to help them stay in their countries. On the other hand, there are countries which want the workforce as well as countries which, like Croatia, are transit countries, and these matters must be regulated."

Božinović said that from the start Croatia's policy had been not to allow illegal entry and strong diplomatic activity. "We have managed to raise awareness in the EU of the issue of countries on the Balkan route because the issue of migration through Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia wouldn't have been on the agenda without Croatia's engagement."

He said that in Marrakesh he would talk with representatives of the countries from which migrants were coming, such as Algeria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey so as to, "not just bilaterally but also at EU level", focus efforts on helping them keep their citizens.

Asked why many countries would not endorse the Global Compact, Božinović said "the majority of EU member states support the agreement" and took part in its preparation. "I think it's a delicate issue. However, Croatia is very clear and transparent about this. We won't allow illegal migration but we are with all those who wish to resolve this issue at the source."

"It is a fact that many actors are using this issue for internal political breakthroughs by releasing news that are unrealistic and untrue. There are also attempts to scare people with the migrant issue but everyone who lives in Croatia knows that we are very firm about this, that we will stay firm and that there's no need to believe those spreading fake news. Migration is here, it won't go away, but the organisation of the Croatian police and the Croatian state guarantees all our citizens and all of Croatia's guests that they will be safe."

Božinović said arrests for trafficking in humans had jumped 88% from 2017 and that this showed how efficient Croatian police were.

"I am sure that we have a realistic policy focused on the well-being of Croatian citizens and if the world comes together about this issue sooner or later, if everyone defuses tensions a little, I'm sure we will start coming closer to solutions. Let's be realistic. Whatever anyone claims, if the EU hadn't reached an agreement with Turkey and if Turkey hadn't closed its borders, who knows what Europe would look like today," he said.

You can find more on Croatia’s migration policies in our special section.

ZAGREB, December 7, 2018 - Croatia is fulfilling all the obligations it took on regarding the EU's migrant policies and no new demands are being put to it regarding migrant policies, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said in Brussels on Thursday.

As far as Croatia is concerned, it is doing everything it undertook to do in 2015 and we are giving our maximum contribution to all the main components of Europe's migration policy, with regard to the prevention of illegal migrations, that is, protection of the external borders, as well as with regard to the issue of solidarity with other member states," Božinović said in Brussels where he was attending a meeting of the EU Home Affairs Council.

He explained that solidarity was reflected in the fact that Croatia had integrated 152 people, Syrian refugees, through resettlement from Turkey, as well as about 80 people who had been relocated from Italy.

Asked whether Croatia had been asked to take on more migrants, Božinović said that that was out of the question.

"That is out of the question. That was taken out of the report on the implementation of the European migration programme. There were some ideas of that nature but they are primarily directed at those countries that haven't shown even an iota of solidarity. Croatia allows legal migrations to the point of it being sustainable for Croatian society and is doing it in such a way that it is not causing any resistance. These people have been integrated, children are going to school and there is no drama over the issue of migrants in Croatia whatsoever," he said.

He underscored that Croatia was confirming its credibility in all relevant elements and that today it was publicly commended for that. "Today Croatia was publicly commended by the chair of the Council of the EU and several other countries for the work of its border police. There was even a proposal that the expertise and experience Croatia's border police have, be shared with other member states," he said.

Božinović also said that he had spoken with some of his counterparts in the EU about the Global Compact on Migration that will be adopted next week in Marrakesh and the fear that it is causing in some member states.

"The thing that sets Croatia apart from other countries that some people in Croatia are referring to, such as Austria and Italy, is that those countries have hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants on their territory and they have their view of that problem. We need a common approach to that global problem that can only be dealt with globally and so far, no one has created any other global organisation but the UN," Božinović concluded.

For more on Croatia’s migrant policies, click here.

ZAGREB, November 15, 2018 - The Croatian Interior Ministry issued a statement on Thursday following an article in the British newspaper The Guardian about the ill-treatment of migrants by Croatian police on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We are appalled that the protection of the Croatian state border, which is carried out by the Croatian police only, is being discredited and connected to imagined paramilitary agents wearing secret insignia that operate on the border under cover of night, and the fact that the Homeland War is referred to as a revolt of Croatian Serbs deserves the strongest condemnation," the ministry said on its website.

In his query to the ministry, The Guardian's reporter Lorenzo Tondo mentioned migrants' accounts alleging that "some officers wear paramilitary uniforms with a badge depicting a sword upraised by two lightning bolts."

According to our sources, some of them are members of a Croatian special police formation set up around the ministry's existing special police air unit following an open revolt of Croatian Serbs against the government in Croatia. According to our sources, they may still be active as an anti-terrorist squad along the Bosnian border, the British newspaper said in its query.

The ministry said that within the Police Directorate there is a special police command as a branch of the Croatian police. "We have no knowledge of the operation of paramilitary agents which you insinuate. The Croatian state border is guarded only by Croatian police wearing their official uniforms and displaying the official insignia of this Ministry," the statement said.

"What you referred to in your query as an open revolt of Croatian Serbs against the government in Croatia is the liberating Homeland War which followed aggression by Serb rebels and the former Yugoslav army against a legitimate and democratically elected Croatian government. The Ministry of the Interior still remembers with the greatest respect 762 of its officers killed, 27 missing and over 3,600 wounded in the Homeland War," the ministry said.

For more on Croatia’s migrants policies, click here.

ZAGREB, October 24, 2018 - The Ministry of the Interior said in response to a statement by the human rights group Platform 112 on Tuesday that none of the organisations within it should be concerned about its operation, emphasising that the ministry had no intention of attacking civil society organisations or putting pressure on their activists and volunteers.

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ZAGREB, October 19, 2018 - Responding to claims by human rights ombudsman Lora Vidović that police were preventing access to information on the treatment of migrants, the Interior Ministry on Thursday said it was in constant communication with her as well as with other institutions which requested more detailed information or explanations on how the Croatian police treat migrants.