Ranko Ostojic, Interior Minister in the 2011-2016 centre-left government, warned on Wednesday that Croatia was not prepared for another increase in refugees.

The situation has changed compared to the height of the migrant crisis in 2015 and 2016, said Ostojic, adding that Italy has changed their refugee policy, and the German government is still dealing with the instability caused by the issue.

“Individual EU countries closing their borders means that Croatia can become the first country of entry. All the refugees are concentrated near Velika Kladusa (Bosnian town near the border with Croatia), they are trying to find better lives in the EU. There is a significant increase in asylum requests in Croatia, now in the thousands. Croatia, although it did everything within the Schengen standards, doesn’t have the capacities,” Ostojic said.

Ostojic, now MP of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), was Interior Minister during the height of the migrant crisis when nearly 40,000 migrants entered Croatia from Serbia after Hungary had constructed a fence on its border with Serbia.

“All who are moving towards Europe must pass through the area without a wire fence, and that is Croatia. The scenario that Croatia will become the first country of entry, in the situation where these people didn’t fall from the sky, but are coming in from the EU, Romania and Bulgaria, is a sign that 2015 is repeating. We need a migrant policy, which the government is not creating,” Ostojic said.

Croatia is not only unprepared, but is risking a serious problem when everyone who registered in Croatia would be returned here if their asylum is denied in the EU, he said.

It is only a matter of time before the first migrant ship comes into Croatian ports, “and then what will happen?” he added.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.