Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic said on Friday that border protection had been, and would continue to be, a challenge.

“Being on the external border of the Schengen area and the EU, which is the most attractive place for life, not only for us who are part of that area but for a large number of people from other parts of the world, we are preparing for that process because it will not stop,” the minister said at the ceremony at the Police Academy at which 40 special police vehicles for the transport of service dogs, to be used by the border police, were handed over.

Commenting on Croatia’s entry to the Schengen area in the night between 31 December and 1 January, Bozinovic said that that day would be written in Croatia’s modern history, but that there would be no major events on that occasion.

Asked if he expected problems on border crossings, Bozinovic said that a lot of problems, notably those related to long waiting times on border crossings with Slovenia and Hungary, would disappear.

Speaking about the 40 Seat Leon vehicles for the transport of service dogs, Bozinovic said that all work and procurement plans were made in a timely manner, with the ministry having adopted a procurement plan for 2023 on Thursday, its budget for next year amounting to slightly more than one billion euros.

The procurement of service dogs, notably those to be used by the border police, was one of the conditions from the first evaluations on which the EC insisted and which were met during the accession process, he said.

The border police currently have 89 service dogs, which follow traces on green borders and can detect the presence of drugs, explosives as well as people on border crossings.