Slovenia reinstates temporary controls at border with Hungary
Xinhua, September 17, 2015 Adjust font size:
Slovenia has decided to reinstate temporary controls on its border with Hungary from Thursday as Prime Minister Miro Cerar announced "police check-ups will last until a solution is found at the EU level".
The Slovenian police measures at the border were taken after Hungary closed its border with Serbia on Tuesday to stop the inflow of refugees who appeared to be trying to get further north via Croatia and Slovenia.
Slovenian Interior Minister Vesna Gyorkos Znidar on Wednesday described the planned border check-ups as an "unavoidable and needed" measure to manage migration flows, according to the news report by Slovenian Press Agency (STA).
She however, the STA report said, underscored that Slovenia would continue to act in line with solidarity among the EU states.
This is the first time since the country joined the Schengen visa-free area in 2007 that Slovenia will apply a temporary suspension of the regime.
Similar steps have already been taken by Germany and Austria as on Wednesday the Austrian police introduced checks at three major border crossings with Slovenia, namely Sentilj, Karavanke and Ljubelj.
Cerar is due to meet his Austrian counterpart Werner Faymann over the crisis in Ljubljana on Thursday, after Faymann holds talks on the matter in Croatia. Endit