Slovenian Ministry of the Interior had planned on setting up a reception centre for registration of migrants on a plot of land owned by the Ministry of Defence and lent to a local dog training club. The dog club has all required permission for its operation and has invested quite a lot of funds into the place as well as numerous hours of voluntary work by members of the local society.

On Wednesday the local civic initiative organized a protest against migrants as well as local and national politics. A day later the Črnomelj Municipality received an appeal from the defence ministry to vacate the borrowed land by 20 October. On Friday, however, the decision was withdrawn – Defence Minister Andreja Katič informed the mayoress of Črnomelj Mojco Čemas Stjepanovič in a telephone conversation that the ministry would not proceed with claiming the grounds at Vražji kamen, adding that other solutions are being sought in cooperation with the interior ministry.

The Bela Krajina Kennel Club is pleased with this – still unofficial – decision. “We’re glad that the ministry decided not to destroy our training grounds as well as the Vražji kamen sports recreational park as a whole,” emphasized the club’s president Andrej Bukovec.

J. Ž., Radio Slovenija; translated by K. Z.