Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that Slovenia was carrying out compensatory measures on its territory and that there was no threat to the Schengen area after Slovenian police established temporary checkpoints near border crossings.

This is not a threat to the Schengen area. This is control of their internal territory, Croatia is also doing that, Plenković said.

The prime minister underscored that these were compensatory measures and that they would in no way hinder smooth cross-border traffic between Croatian and Slovenia.

Earlier on Wednesday, Slovenian Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar dismissed claims that Slovenia had re-established internal border controls and said that this possibility was not on the table at the moment, but he said that police had increased surveillance in the most critical areas where the number of illegal crossings had increased.

Slovenian police are beefing up surveillance at temporary border checkpoints, stopping and checking suspicious vehicles when necessary, the minister said.

Dialogue between Belgrade and Priština has not failed

Dialogue has not failed, it will continue. The escalation is bad and we express our regret, firstly because of the death of a Kosovo police officer, and also because of the serious incident that happened that leads to an increase, not a decrease in tension, Plenković said when asked whether the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština with the mediation of the EU had failed.

He added that Croatia wanted to reduce tensions and find a solution that would bring Kosovo closer to the European Union.

Attackers in armored vehicles stormed a village in the Serb-majority region of northern Kosovo on Sunday, clashing with police and barricading themselves in a Serb Orthodox monastery. A Kosovo policeman and four of the gunmen were killed in the shooting.