Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Wednesday protested to European Parliament President David Sassoli over four Italian Socialist MEPs' recent private visit to the green border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who, he said, wanted to cause an incident.

The four MEP are members of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.

The press release issued by the government said that Plenkovic had spoken via video link and underscored that the purpose of the visit by the Italian MEPs was to cause an incident and undermine Croatia’s international reputation by disrespecting its laws and institutions.

Croatia sent a message to the MEPs through diplomatic channels saying that they cannot of their own free will cross the border where that is not permitted and directed them to the official border crossing, however, they ignored that.

Plenkovic said he expects that type of provocation will not be repeated.

He told Sassoli Croatia and its law enforcement authorities put a lot of effort into protecting the country’s borders and preventing illegal entry. He also notified the EP president of Croatia’s final preparations to access the Schengen Area.

During the video conference, it was mutually confirmed that the visit by the Italian MEPs was of a private nature and that it was in no way organised or approved by the European Parliament.