Ljubljana/Rome/Zagreb – Slovenian Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar has announced that Slovenia will extend its control on the border with Croatia and Hungary, which was introduced on October 21 last year, until December 21. Prior to this, Italy had announced an extension of border control with Slovenia until December.
Poklukar assured his Croatian colleague Davor Božinović and his Hungarian colleague Sandor Pinter that the Slovenian police will continue to carry out the control as before – target-oriented and focused on preventing terrorism, extremism, and cross-border criminality.
According to the minister, the goal is for the control to have as little negative impact as possible on passengers, the economy, and the environment. During the tourist season, therefore, due to the control, no more significant problems are expected than there were during the Christmas-New Year holidays.
Slovenia introduced control on the border with Croatia and Hungary due to deteriorating security conditions in the Middle East and increased terrorism threats in the EU on October 21 last year. It was then that Italy, for the same reasons, introduced control on the border with Slovenia and extended it in January until June 18, and today until December 18.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi explained that Rome’s decision to extend the control is partly a consequence of Italy’s presidency of the G7 group and the related efforts to ensure a high level of security. He assured that the control will continue to be carried out in the future so that it will have as little impact as possible on cross-border traffic of people and goods.
Croatian Minister Davor Božinović said that he does not expect a tightening of control at the border with Slovenia. He added that Croatia insists on finding alternative models in enhanced police cooperation. (May 22)