Slovenia was represented at the conference by the Interior Ministry State Secretary Boštjan Šefic. He stressed at the conference that Slovenia was extremely worried about the daily worsening of the migrant situation in the Western Balkans, because of which the number of asylum requests in Slovenia has significantly increased, reports the Ministry of the Interior.
The opening of the Adriatic coastal route
Slovenia is especially worried about the opening of the new so-called Adriatic coastal route, which leads from Greece into Albania, and then from Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia to Slovenia. Still active, but less so, is also the old migrant route through Macedonia and Serbia, and then onwards to Croatia and Slovenia. "It shows how well organized smugglers are," he said.
New ways of illegally crossing borders are also being established, putting in danger the lives of refugees. Šefic emphasized that such migrations must be stopped and controlled at their source and offer all the possible help to the source countries. Šefic said that if this does not happen, "we will have to stop migration at EU's external borders with much tougher measures". He then added that tightened control at the Schengen external borders would affect the whole region, which is something nobody wants.
"That is why we have to find a joint approach and establish joint mechanisms to fight illegal migration, as in the opposite there is a great risk for the whole region to become a 'hot spot', similar to such points in Greece and Italy. And that can represent a huge security risk," he warned. He also called on states, EU institutions, agencies, and the international community, to take immediate action.
Šefic: We expect protected EU external borders
Talking to the STA news agency, Šefic denied reports in Croatian media that Vienna and Ljubljana had demanded that Zagreb deploy army troops along the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. "Slovenia has never demanded anything from any country, not even from Croatia," as individual member states and the Frontex agency have the right to assess situations on their own. However, Šefic did add that Slovenia has expressed its expectation that EU’s external borders be well protected many times. He also discussed the need for securing those borders with his Croatian colleague in Sarajevo.