Slovenia has decided to extend border controls with Croatia and Hungary once again, as confirmed by the country’s Minister of the Interior, Boštjan Poklukar.
Announcing the new changes, through a statement, Slovenia’s government said that border controls will remain effective for an additional six months, SchengenNews reports.
Ljubljana informed the European Commission regarding the introduction of such a measure for the first time on October 21, 2023, under concerns of the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Since then, Slovenia informed the European Commission five times regarding the decision to prolong border controls.
Threats to public order and internal security in the EU, the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, recent terrorist attacks in some Member States, increased security risks due to organised crime in the Western Balkans and violent extremism, risk of infiltration in mixed migration flows; internal borders with the Republic of Croatia and Hungary.
Italy Prolongs Border Controls Measures with Slovenia by the End of 2024
Announcing the decision, Poklukar said that Italy also prolonged border controls with Slovenia until the end of this year, SchengenNews reports.
Poklukar said that he was informed by Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, that border controls will remain effective until December 2024.
Their extension is expected to last half a year, i.e. until December 2024, which is made possible by the Schengen Code. In the notification that we received from the Ministry of the Interior, in addition to the already known reasons for the introduction of control by Italy, an additional reason is given, above all, to ensure a high level of security during Italy’s presidency of the G7 Group.
Poklukar emphasised that the Italian Minister assured him that the border control regime from Italy would remain the same as before. According to the Slovenian Minister, this means that the temporary control will continue to be targeted, stressing that, above all, with the aim of having as little negative impact as possible on the life of the local border population and the economy.
Two ministers agreed on a bilateral meeting in Nova Gorica that is set to be held in mid-June. Both ministers also confirmed their readiness to continue with the tripartite cooperation between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia as well as joint cooperation in the Western Balkans area.
In the statement, the government of Slovenia said that the decision to extend border controls several times with Croatia and Hungary comes after the security situation in the Middle East is “only getting worse”.
