ZAGREB, March 3, 2019 - Law professor Ivan Koprić, who has recently presented findings of a study about the capacities of Croatian municipalities and towns to accept migrants, has said that less than 5% of units of local self-government have immigrants who have arrived since 2015 in Croatia.

Commenting on the findings at a round table discussion on challenges of migrations organised by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU), Koprić, who is a professor at Zagreb Law School, said that the study, conducted by the Institute of Public Administration, involved 62 mayors of municipalities and towns with more than 10,000 residents.

"Less than 5% of those communities have immigrants who have arrived since 2015, while 90% communities had experiences with refugees and displaced people in the 1990s," he said.

Those local communities are willing to take in immigrant Croats from abroad, and then immigrants from western Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, the USA and Croatia's neighbouring countries.

As many as 77% of respondents reject the claim about unacceptable multiculturality, and 66% reject a claim about immigration not being welcome.

However, 68% of respondents believe that an influx of immigrants may cause social problems, and 60% say that the capacity of local institutions and utilities such as pre-school institutions, schools, healthcare centres are insufficient for the integration of migrants, and 70% of them will like to transfer this job to nongovernmental organisations, according to Koprić's presentation.

The professor says that the mayors covered by the poll have a realistic insight in the risks and potential advantages of immigration.

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

ZAGREB, March 1, 2019 - The Karlovac police on Friday filed criminal charges against a 44-year old Syrian migrant who last September falsely reported his daughter as missing, after which he applied for asylum in Croatia and then ran away from the Migrant Centre, the local police reported.

The police reported that they had determined that the 44-year old Syrian, who identified himself as Wadie Ghazi Sineid, had falsely reported that the "Croatian police had separated him from his 5-year old daughter on 11 September 2018 in Slunj." The police suspect that he did this "with the aim of crossing the state border of Croatia and stepping onto the territory of the European Union, namely a member state of the Schengen Area in order to regulate his residency there."

"The suspect falsely reported the child as missing even though he was aware that the child was not with him, believing that the police would react urgently in search of the child," the police said in press release.

The suspect reported the child's disappearance on September 24 saying that this occurred at the Maljevac border crossing, and on that occasion, he said that he would apply for international protection in Croatia. Subsequently the police undertook a series of measures to search for the minor.

The suspect is currently out of reach of Croatian authorities because prior to his application for international protection being resolved he left the asylum centre in Zagreb.

Last autumn, Interior Minister Davor Božinović confirmed to the media that prior to the Syrian reporting the missing child, he had applied for asylum in Sarajevo and that at that time, he was not accompanied by his daughter.

Cases of false alarm in Croatia carry a sentence of up to three years in prison.

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

ZAGREB, February 27, 2019 - Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović and his North Macedonian counterpart Oliver Spasovski on Tuesday visited Bogorodica, the North Macedonian-Greek border crossing where 11 Croatian police are helping the police of North Macedonia.

Their main job is to prevent the illegal crossing of the border. The Croatian police told Božinović that the patrols in which they had taken part had uncovered a majority of the migrant smugglers arrested on this route.

Speaking to the press, Spasovski thanked the Croatian Interior Ministry and Croatia as the first state which sent police to Macedonia on a bilateral basis. "I wish to honour them for their professional work and for the exchange of experience with the Macedonian police. This is an example of how we should work together to resolve global problems."

Božinović said he was especially pleased when praise came from international partners and friends, adding that this was an example of how states dealt with transnational problems.

"No state can resolve alone issues which are cross-border in nature, from terrorism to organised crime and... more and more illegal migration. Croatian police do not protect only the Croatian border but 11 of them are transferring their experience in dealing with the migrant crisis in Croatia to their colleagues here in North Macedonia," he said.

He said the trends in both countries were similar and that it was very important that police forces exchanged experience and were always ahead of smugglers. He added that last year North Macedonia prevented 16,900 illegal migrants from crossing the border.

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

ZAGREB, February 26, 2019 - Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović began a two-day visit to North Macedonia by meeting with his counterpart Oliver Spasovksi in Skopje on Monday evening.

Spasovski thanked Croatia for police assistance in dealing with the migrant crisis and for political support in helping his country on the path to membership of the European Union and NATO. "This is yet another confirmation of our friendship and cooperation," Spasovski said after the meeting, thanking Croatian police for helping their Macedonian colleagues in securing the border with Greece.

"This is very important for Macedonia and the whole region. This model shows how cooperation in dealing with crises such as migration, which has hit all of us, should be functioning," he added.

Spasovski said they had discussed bilateral relations, combating organised and cross-border crime, the integration of North Macedonia into NATO, and the sharing of Croatia's experience from the EU accession process.

Božinović said that the Croatian parliament would ratify North Macedonia's NATO accession protocol most likely by the end of this week, adding that this was a major step for stability and security in the region and for the country's EU membership bid.

Božinović expressed hope that North Macedonia would open EU membership negotiations as soon as possible, adding that one of the priorities of the Croatian presidency of the EU in the first half of 2020 would be further EU enlargement.

"It will certainly be the period in which both Croatia and North Macedonia will do as much work as possible regarding (Macedonia's) EU integration," the Croatian minister said.

He said he was glad to hear that the hosts were satisfied with the cooperation between the two countries, especially with the cooperation with the Croatian police deployed at border crossings with Greece to prevent illegal migration.

"This route which runs from Greece stops before the Croatian border and that's why it is very important to us to cooperate with all these countries to improve this entire process, all the procedures that protect the security of our border and the security of our citizens and our guests," Božinović said.

He noted that migration was one of six priority areas of cooperation between the EU and membership aspirants, adding that during its EU presidency Croatia would organise a special conference on this matter.

Božinović said that North Macedonia and other countries in the region have in Croatia their staunchest advocate in the EU institutions.

On Tuesday, Božinović is scheduled to attend a Brdo Process conference and visit Croatian police deployed along the Macedonian border with Greece.

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

ZAGREB, February 25, 2019 - The number of people on trial as migrant smugglers in Croatia is many times higher than in previous years, especially at the Karlovac Municipal Court, which received 229 such indictments in 2018 and about 50 this year.

In each case one or more persons are on trial for taking money to transport foreign citizens through Croatia and enable them to illegally enter another European Union member state.

Karlovac Municipal Court judge and spokeswoman Blaženka Lugar Vidović has told Hina that those people were tried under the Penal Code article on illegal entry, movement and stay in Croatia or another EU country.

The pressure on the court is high because the cases are urgent and concern people from Albania, Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, sometimes from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and very rarely from Croatia, she said.

Sixty-eight sentences have been delivered. All arrestees were given a court-appointed attorney, but afterwards many chose their own.

Migrant smuggling is punishable with one to eight years in prison. Some smugglers have been given five years. However, a sentence can be as high as 12 years if smugglers endangered migrants' lives and health, for example by transporting them in trucks with not enough air.

Lugar Vidović said those sentenced to prison were deprived of the trucks, vans and mobile phones they used in the commission of the crimes to send "a message of general prevention" and that it seemed to work.

Asked about the smugglers' profile, she said they included people doing it for the first time, out of necessity, to pay off loans as well as professionals who admitted to having been arrested in other countries. She said one smuggler said he had done it only so he could buy his fiancee an engagement ring.

She said that was why the sentences varied after all mitigating and aggravating circumstances were considered. The minimum sentence is one year in prison, those who were extremely brazen get five and those who also endangered the lives and health of others may be given the maximum 12 years in prison, she said, adding that the latter were tried by a jury, not a judge.

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

ZAGREB, February 22, 2019 - A panel discussion on the humane aspects of the integration of asylum seekers into Croatian society ended inconclusively in Petrinja on Friday as the authorities and residents failed to come any closer in their views on the plan to build an asylum seekers centre in the town, located about 60 kilometres southeast of Zagreb.

The only unanimous conclusion was that the residents did not have timely and relevant information about the project, which has been in the making for over a year.

The project to build a centre for asylum seekers was opposed by local war veterans, political parties and civil society organisations mostly for security reasons, and it has also been voted down by the Town Council.

"I have expressed my readiness to come here for as long as necessary so that we can issue the right messages and discuss facts. This probably should have been discussed earlier, but there are no time limits. The most important thing to me is that we all realise what this is about, and this is about deciding whether to help families who are in trouble and in need of international protection. And as for the building itself, that is a side issue," Interior Minister Davor Božinović said.

Božinović said that Croatian policy on illegal migration was clear. "We will not allow illegal migration, but it is humane to help those who need help. If the residents insist on their decision, we will honour it, but I would not make such conclusions because I believe that dialogue can produce results."

The minister said that 4 million euro had already been secured for the construction of infrastructure for the future centre and other facilities. He added that the total value of the project was about 200 million kuna (27 million euro) and that the money would be secured from EU funds.

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

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 20, 2019 - The mayor of the northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina town of Bihać, Suhret Fazlić, on Wednesday accused the Croatian police of illegally entering Bosnia and Herzegovina in Una-Sana Canton where they are bringing illegal migrants who were found on Croatian territory and who, before that, somehow managed to cross the state border.

At the same time, the chairman of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Milorad Dodik, warned that Bosnia and Herzegovina could not handle illegal migrations on its own and that the European Union must get involved.

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

"You must not allow the Croatian police to bring here 30, 40, 100 migrants each day, bypassing the official border crossing. I am offended as a Bosnian citizen that someone from another country can enter Bosnia's territory and do as they please, regardless of how friendly that country might be. Croatian police and special forces are entering Bosnia, bringing migrants and sending them back to Bihac," Fazlić told N1 television.

The Bihać mayor claims that the Bosnian Serb entity police behaved in a similar fashion, saying that they were immediately arresting all migrants found on their territory and bringing them to the Bosnian State Ministry of Security which then automatically sends migrants to Bihac," N1 broadcaster cited Fazlić as saying. "Bosnia and Herzegovina must resolve this," Fazlić said.

The Bihać town council adopted a conclusion demanding the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to urgently voice its opinion about illegal migrations and take measures aimed at efficiently controlling the migrant crisis.

More news on 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 14, 2019 - The government adopted a decision on Thursday to receive another 150 people under the EU refugee relocation scheme, and this applies to citizens of third countries or without citizenship who qualify for international protection this year.

"By implementing the relocation programme and with this decision, the government is trying to ensure a legal arrival of citizens of third countries or persons without citizenship who are in need of international protection to the EU area to an extent that is sustainable for Croatia, whereby we wish to additionally avoid the deaths and exploitation by traffickers of people arriving in the EU irregularly," said Interior Minister Davor Božinović.

Croatia adopted the first such decision in July 2015, receiving 152 Syrian citizens.

A second decision, on the resettlement of another 100 persons, was adopted in October 2017, the minister said, adding that logistical preparations were under way on the relocation of Syrian citizens from Turkey to Croatia.

Croatia is adopting this decision based on available capacity, to meet obligations stemming from European and international documents on refugees, and taking into account the fact that, as an EU member state, it supports the principle of solidarity and equal sharing of responsibility, Božinović said.

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