Huge crowds have already forced the police to loosen up on EU's regulation on tightened border controls. During peak times, border patrol officers only checked databases for data of third-country nationals. Bojan Tomc from the Novo mesto Police Unit explained for TV Slovenija that on Friday evening the officers stopped checking all passengers who cross the border. Instead, third-country citizens are checked without exception while EU citizens are only checked if profiled as risky based on certain indicators.

According to the Interior Ministry state secretary Boštjan Šefic, EU's regulation permits exceptions based on evaluations of the circumstances at individual border crossings. Heightened control can be abandoned for a short period of time in the case of long traffic jams or consequences for the local community. Therefore, this exception has been applied at certain border crossings so as to make the situation bearable. Šefic emphasized that the Slovenian

Interior Ministry had warned the European Commission (EC) during the preparation of the regulation about the external Schengen border with Croatia as the most heavily overloaded with traffic but did not manage to present proposed solutions. Therefore, the ministry will prepare a detailed report for EC early next week and call to attention the problems that have arisen and the proposals that had been ignored.

A. K. K., T. H., A. Č., B. R.; translated by K. Z.