ZAGREB, 29 Aug (Hina) – Ministers of the Interior Joachim Herrmann of Bavaria and Davor Božinović of Croatia agreed during a meeting in Munich on Thursday that it is necessary to reinforce the protection of the European Union’s external borders so as to lessen the pressure of illegal migrations.
“We would have much less trouble with illegal migrations if all EU member states protected the external borders as well as Croatia does,” Herrmann (CSU) told a news conference in Munich.
He went on to say that following an agreement with Serbia, the Hungary-Serbia border is being intensively protected, and the routes of irregular migration have shifted to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“This has increased the pressure on Croatia as irregular migrants are now trying to enter the EU via Croatia,” said the Bavarian minister.
He noted that since 2017 he has met with Minister Božinović on a regular basis.
Herrmann recalled that earlier this year, the EU reached agreement on the issue of migrants and refugees and that this deal should be implemented.
“My Croatian colleague and I believe that it is necessary for the European Union to immediately change its attitude towards illegal migrations and an integral part of that process is the effective protection of the borders,” said Herrmann, adding that it makes him happy to hear from Božinović that Croatia will continue strongly protecting its external border.
The Bavarian official also called for ramping up the engagement of Frontex on the Serbia-Bosnia and Herzegovina border.
He thanked Božinović for the very good cooperation in the fight against crime.
The Croatian minister said that his country had the longest EU external border among the Schengen zone members.
Croatia delivered on its promises given before it entered the Schengen zone of free travel and will continue doing its job concerning the protection of the Union’s external borders, said Božinović.
He noted that although illegal migration routes now run through Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian authorities have managed to cut the number of illegal crossings from that country by 55% so far this year.
We have arrested over 1,400 persons for smuggling migrants so far this year, he added.
Božinović thanked the Bavarian authorities for the excellent cooperation in the recent years.