Interior Ministry state secretary Terezija Gras on Wednesday expressed satisfaction, during a meeting with her Slovenian counterpart Franc Kangler, that both countries are in agreement that Croatia joining the Schengen Area is the next step towards strengthening the EU's external borders.
“There is agreement between the two countries that the two new IT systems at the EU level, the Entry/Exit System and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, should be established on Croatia’s external border, having in mind Croatia’s membership in the Schengen Area,” Gras said after an informal meeting with Kangler in the Slovenian town of Ilirska Bistrica on Tuesday.
The Croatian Interior Ministry stated that state secretary Gras had underscored that that would strengthen the capacities of the Croatian police, who would get additional tools for border management, which is important for combating human trafficking and smuggling.
Kangler praises work of Croatian police on combating illegal migration
State secretary in the Slovenian Interior Ministry, Kangler, praised the work of the Croatian police on combating illegal migration.
The participants in the meeting agreed on the conducting actions on the Croatian-Slovenian border in order to send the message to citizens of both countries that their police services were doing everything to eliminate concerns about illegal migration.
We are aware that illegal migration is not only an issue that has to be tackled bilaterally between Croatia and Slovenia, but that we have to strengthen the support Croatia and Slovenia can as EU member states offer to countries in our neighbourhood that are to join the EU, Gras said.
Gras: Move towards finalising Police Cooperation Agreement
At the meeting, there was also discussion about concluding the Agreement on Police Cooperation, which, as Gras said, the two ministries have been negotiating for the past two years and have reached the point when they can start finalising it.
“We consider the agreement important because it can take the already good cooperation between our two countries to an even higher level, which we consider important in the context of illegal migration, but also in that of contemporary security challenges Croatia and Slovenia are facing,” Gras noted.
The meeting, attended by the Croatian deputy chief of police, Jozo Suker, and the Slovenian acting chief of police Andrej Juric, also discussed measures taken by the two countries to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
