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Croatia calls on Slovenia to switch to targeted border checks

Xinhua, April 13, 2017 Adjust font size:

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday called on Slovenia to replace systematic border checks with targeted checks in temporarily so as to ease traffic delays at border crossings between the two countries.

There have been a long queue at the borders between Croatia and Slovenia after a new EU regulation on stricter Schengen border controls last Friday.

Croatia has switched from systematic checks required by EU to targeted checks, Plenkovic said, adding that it has notified EU member countries and the European Commission.

Systematic checks included passport scanning for both EU and non-EU citizens, while targeted checks were made only for vehicles which appears to be necessary. Targeted checks would speed up the flow of vehicles from the Croatian side, according to Plenkovic.

He appealed Slovenia to follow Croatia to switch from systematic checks of vehicles at the border to targeted checks.

He hoped that a temporary solution would be found for the Easter holidays, adding that Croatia would do all it could to find a durable solution.

Also on Thursday, Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said that Slovenia had to comply with the new regulation if it wanted to remain in the Schengen passport-free zone, according to Croatian News Agency HINA.

"Slovenia will either guard the Schengen border or we will no longer be in Schengen," he said in a statement.

Slovenia is actively involved in ensuring that the flow of traffic at the border crossings with Croatia was as smooth as possible, while at the same time ensuring the security of its citizens and the entire Schengen area, he added. Endit