After Italy announced that it would re-control the border with Slovenia, Slovenia is also introducing controls at the internal Schengen borders with Croatia and Hungary. Slovenian Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar announced on Wednesday evening that the government would decide on this on Thursday.
Ljubljana also justifies the reintroduction of border controls with an increased risk of terrorism. “The terrorist threat in Europe is high. We see what is happening in France and Belgium. It’s a safety measure. We want to carry out additional checks at the previous border crossings on the Western Balkans route, where foreigners cross the border illegally,” Poklukar told news portal N1.
Selective checks planned
“With this we will strengthen Slovenia’s security,” he added. “We don’t want radical people or people with terrorist intentions to come through the Western Balkans route. “The police will therefore carry out selective checks at the borders with Croatia and Hungary,” the interior minister told private broadcaster POP TV.
According to the Slovenian Minister of the Interior, the checks will be a temporary measure. Like Italy, Slovenia wants to introduce it initially for two months, with the possibility of extension, Poklukar confirmed. He had already informed his counterparts in the two neighboring countries about this on Wednesday.
Terror alert level increased
Due to the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and the heightened security situation in Europe, the risk assessment for terrorism in Slovenia was also increased from low to medium on Wednesday. This is the third level on a five-level scale of terrorist threat.
Slovenia had already tightened police controls in the border area with Croatia at the end of September due to the sharp increase in migration movements. Although the Slovenian authorities did not directly criticize the protection of the Schengen external border by the new Schengen country Croatia, they expressed their dissatisfaction by repeatedly offering the neighboring country bilateral assistance in the field of border security and calling for the deployment of the EU Border Protection Agency Frontex.
“The number of more than 40,000 illegal border crossings across the Slovenian border (with Croatia, note) says it all,” Poklukar told N1 on Wednesday. He rejected the interpretation that the current controls were introduced because of migration.
Source: Krone
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