Ljubljana, 20/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - Slovenia is seeking to guarantee that its border with Croatia will be both safe, in order effectively to fight illegal immigration and organised crime, and sufficiently flexible, so that the life of the local population will not be hindered. However, it fears that a strict application of the "Schengen" acquis as of October 2007 may bring about restrictions on the movements of the cross-border population. By initiative of the "Kangaroo" Group, which is chaired by Karl von Wogau, a delegation of members of the European Parliament carried out a study visit to Slovenia from 16 to 18 September to investigate the management of the external borders of the European Union, during which the Slovenian authorities presented their national action plan for their integration into the "Schengen" zone. The German Christian Democrat Karl von Wogau, who is also the president of the sub-committee on "defence" of the EP, stressed the importance of "joint border management" based on "modern standards", and voiced his hopes that the EU would lend its "technical and financial" support to the implementation of the "Schengen" acquis, which is currently being consolidated into the new Community code on borders (see EUROPE 8919 and 8713). During its visit on the ground, the Parliamentary delegation has found out about techniques used by the Slovenian police to check the 670 kilometres-long border with Croatia. The territorial disputes between the two countries were also raised.
"Our border is safe", said the Slovenian authorities, who are convinced that Croatia, which is a candidate for accession to the EU, represents no danger in terms of migratory flows. The Croatians do not need a visa to enter the Community territory. "We do not anticipate any serious problems on our border" in the future, said Dragutin Mate, the Slovenian Minister for the interior, on 16 September. A legal immigration seems to be relatively rare: 5000 illegal border crossings were reported in 2003 in 2004, and 80% of the people intercepted were immediately returned to the border. Illegal immigrants enter Slovenia mainly via Croatia and most of them are originally from Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania. The increase in numbers of asylum requests may be a problem, Mr Mate did, however, concede. Danijel Lorbek, Head of the Border Police Section, also spoke all the difficulties related to the Pristina airport in Kosovo which, due to the lack of a Visa regime on its territory, has seen mass arrivals of third-country immigrants.
Slovenia and Croatia have brought in an official document for local use, in order to facilitate the movements of the local population on their common border. Almost 30,000 people are affected on either side of the border: farmers, workers and schoolchildren. With this document, Croatians may enter Slovenia without an obligation to pass through official checkpoints and may move freely with an a zone of 10 km inside the territory, but they need a passport to visit Ljubljana. Other cross-border agreements exist in the field of fisheries, tourism and sanitary assistance. However, Slovenia is concerned that the implementation of the "Schengen" acquis, together with a changing geographical border, will make local border life difficult: "procedures will be more difficult in the future", said Dragutin Mate. However, according to Peter Reberc, Head of the joint commission in charge of implementing the Agreement between Slovenia and Croatia, "there is no relationship between a legal immigration and border facilities" granted to the local population. The Slovenian authorities are, therefore, looking for "practical and feasible solutions". "We are not asking for a special regime", added Peter Reberc, "or even a simplification of the 'Schengen' acquis, but what we do want is for a model to be found on the basis of solutions which already exist in practice and have proved their worth".
The Parliamentary delegation said that it was aware of the stakes related to the external borders of the EU. "We do not want to Great Wall of China", said Karl von Wogau, "but a safe and flexible border". "The Commission's proposal is reasonable", he said on the subject of the proposed regulation of February 2005, amending the "Schengen" acquis by bringing in rules on light border traffic on the external land borders of the Member States. Mr von Wogau did not take position on two elements of this proposal: the obligation to stamp official documents at each border crossing and the maximum period of three months out of every six for residency in the border zone. Discussions are underway with Mihael Brejc (EPP-ED, Slovenia), who is the rapporteur for the EP on this dossier and host for the study visit. The Slovenian authorities feel that the "adoption of the regulation in its current form would have a negative impact on the life and working conditions of the local population", and reject the Commission's proposal for systematic stamping of documents. A compromise in their favour is apparently being sketched out on this point within the Council. On the size of the zone in which the new regime would apply, Slovenia would like to keep the 10 km area. The Commission has proposed 30 km.
Mr von Wogau paid tribute to the "professionalism" of the Slovenian authorities, but added that "modern standards" of border management had not been attained. "There is a deficit in the joint management" of the border, he said. He feels that EU should contribute "technically and financially" to efforts made on the ground, and take greater account of the concept of joint management, particularly via "the new neighbourhood policy" and the future "safety research programme". "We need a joint border control plan", said the German Christian Democrat Ewa Klamt, coordinator of the EPP-ED group for the committee on civil liberties, regretting the lack of provisions on "legal immigration" at European level. In her view, the EU should open the door on the one hand, close it on the other and tell legal immigration candidates to "get in the queue, please".
The union police maintains permanent surveillance of the border with Croatia. It uses traditional methods (motorised mobile units, mounted police, air surveillance) and sophisticated methods such as Thermo-vision, which allows a person to be found at night due to his or her body temperature. Mixed patrols, made up of Slovenian and Croatian officers, have also been set up. In order to fulfil the obligations under its entry into the "Schengen" area, the Slovenian police must train and recruit 2000 police officers to achieve the figure of 3000 officers needed for the permanent surveillance of the border with Croatia. Dragutin Mate voiced his hopes of "excellent co-operation" between the old and new Member States and that his country would join the "SYS II", the second generation of the Schengen information system (see EUROPE 8959). Experience acquired in the twinning programmes with the German, Austrian, Spanish and French administrations was also judged to have been positive.
A territorial dispute subsists between Slovenia and Croatia. It relates mainly to the maritime border in the Bay of Piran. The Slovenians lay claim to the whole of the Bay and call for direct access to the international waters. The Croatians believe that the Bay of Piran should be divided using a median line, and call for a direct border with Italy. Less serious disputes about the terrestrial boundary, however, have led to a border which is exaggeratedly complicated in places: one road crosses the border seven times in the space of 2 km and a restaurant is cut in half by the line of the border. This territorial dispute has aggravated difficulties in the everyday lives of the local population, who were used to travelling freely on the cross-border zone before the independence of Slovenia and Croatia in the early 1990s.
The "Kangaroo" Group, which was created in 1979, brings together representatives of the European institutions and interest groups around debates on European issues. First of all, it concentrated its work on the creation of the internal market, then of the single currency. The instrumentation of the "Schengen" area is now included on its list of priorities. (Info: Liselotte Hallen ; T: 02/2844666 ; http: //http://www.kangaroogroup.org )