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Slovenia responses sensitively over Germany's possible returning refugees

Xinhua, October 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar has reacted sensitively to the possibility of Germany reversing its policy of accepting refugees and sending them back to countries where they entered the EU, according to the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) on Friday.

The possibility was raised recently by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere in an interview for the Stuttgarter Nachtirichten, telling the paper at the weekend that conditions were met for returning the refugees to Slovenia and Croatia, said the STA report.

However, Cerar said on Friday that the answer to the statement has already been provided by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who stripped de Maizire of his authority related to the handling of the refugee issues in recent days, saying that this was "concrete" step which shows what the German chancellor "thinks of these statements".

The prime minister has also tasked Interior Minister Vesna Gyorkos Znidar with checking the exact significance of the statements by contacting the German ministry. He will also raise the issue in talks with Merkel at the EU summit at the end of next week.

According to Cerar, Germany has not closed its border and he does not expect that it will. Slovenia will meanwhile continue its current policy of providing suitable humanitarian assistance to refugees and not preventing their passage onwards to northern Europe should they so choose. Endit