The police directors of Croatia and Italy, Nikola Milina and Lamberto Giannini, signed a memorandum of cooperation to combat illegal drug trade in Dubrovnik on Monday, state agency Hina said, adding that Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic and his Italian counterpart Luciana Lamorgese were in attendance.

Bozinovic said cooperation was important for the two countries’ security, recalling that Dubrovnik county police had the best results in illegal drug seizures in Croatia in the last two years.

“Notably cocaine, with about 745 kilograms seized in the port of Ploče. Our message is that we will continue to do our job and cooperate with our Italian colleagues, who seized about 2.5 tonnes of cocaine in the same period,” he added.

Boznovic said “the Balkan cartel” was one of the most active international criminal organizations, responsible for almost 60% of the cocaine market in Europe. He and Lamorgese also talked about migration.

“The central Mediterranean route is one of the three main illegal entries to the EU on which Italy is the first to be hit. On the east Mediterranean route, Greece and Croatia are hit. We must step up activities for a common European response. We expect migration in the future as well. The situation in Ukraine is not helping. It could lead to a food shortage. Besides, droughts and accelerated climate change will motivate people in the Middle East and north Africa to come to Europe in greater numbers,” Bozinovic said.

Not one security challenge can be stopped without cross-border cooperation in the EU, which can maintain political stability and security, he added.

Lamorgese said that Croatia, about to join the euro and Schengen areas, was making fast progress and modernising.

“These are all positive steps which will make our region safer and the cooperation even better. Our two countries have the external EU border and we are combating the problem of migration via the central Mediterranean, where we need solidarity and responsibility. The two countries’ relations are very good and the technical cooperation between the two police forces will continue,” she said.

She also underlined the cooperation between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. “We can do nothing alone, but only through international cooperation.”