The three interior ministers of Croatia, Italy and Slovenia agreed to expand their border control cooperation to Western Balkan countries – a popular migration route – to crack down on irregular migration.
“Citizens of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia did not experience any problems in movement because of police controls introduced, especially in border areas. And just this year [in 2024], we arrested 90 traffickers already,” Hina cited Bozinovic as saying after the meeting in the western town of Buzet.
According to ministry data, Croatia recorded a 40% increase in illegal crossings in 2023, mainly from neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, with some 1,700 people arrested for human trafficking.
Croatia’s Davor Bozinovic, Slovenia’s Bostjan Poklukar, and Italy’s Matteo Piantedosi first met in November in Trieste, where they decided to coordinate police efforts in clamping down on illegal migrations and human trafficking in the region.
Piantedosi said that the newly introduced police controls were successful and added that since October last year, Italian police registered 1,600 illegal border crossings into Italy. Some 70 people suspected of criminal activities have been apprehended – including about 50 traffickers.
Slovenia’s interior minister Poklukar reiterated the need for police controls because “the current Schengen area system isn’t working,” Hina reported. He added that the three ministers agreed that border controls would not affect cargo transport or any cross-border commuters.
The exact way in which police cooperation would be expanded to countries of the Western Balkans will be defined in their next meeting in March.
“We agreed to cooperate in the Western Balkans, considering that we have a large influx of illegal migrants. Last year alone, Slovenian authorities caught 60,000 foreign nationals illegally crossing its border. That’s a huge figure for Slovenia,” Poklukar said.
According to Slovenian police data, the country saw an 89% year-on-year increase in illegal crossings in 2023, with 30% of illegal migrants being nationals of Afghanistan, followed by Morocco and Pakistan.
(David Spaic-Kovacic | Euractiv.hr)
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