ZAGREB, 8 Dec (Hina) – EU interior ministers on Monday agreed on stricter rules to combat illegal migration, and Croatian Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović welcomed them as measures that will discourage irregular migrants from setting out for Europe in the first place.
At the Justice and Home Affairs Council, ministers approved measures that will give member states greater powers to deport people who have no right to stay in the EU and to establish centres for asylum seekers outside Europe.
The changes, pushed by Denmark’s Social Democratic government, which currently holds the EU presidency, include expanding the list of safe countries to include EU candidate states as well as Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco and Tunisia, Reuters reported.
“It was an efficient day in Brussels,” Božinović said after the meeting, calling the new measures an extension of a policy that increasingly invests in migration control in Europe and prevents irregular migrants from “abusing European legislation”.
The Croatian minister stressed that a stricter approach in other countries, especially from June next year, would discourage many irregular migrants from even “setting out for Europe”.
The new acts also include a solidarity fund that will require EU member states to help countries under heavy pressure either by taking in some migrants or by financially supporting those that do.
Božinović welcomed the fact that Croatia, along with several other EU members, is exempt from the fund, criticising those who predicted the opposite and warned of a “noose around Croatia’s neck”.
“Thеy’ll probably find it hard now, because they only function by spreading panic,” he said.
Božinović emphasised that the meeting in Brussels highlighted the heavy burden on “above all, the Croatian border police” and the fact that more than 64 million passengers and 24 million vehicles legally crossed Croatian territory this year.
But Croatia “has shown it can handle it” and continues to invest because this is the government’s strategic approach, Božinović added.
“In the years ahead, we do not expect any surprises. So all those who fear population replacement or whatever else they’re saying in the media, especially on social networks“ their efforts are in vain,” the minister said.
