EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SLOVENIA INTERIOR MINISTRY Slovenia raises possibility of border barrier against migrants

Record ID: 134758

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SLOVENIA INTERIOR MINISTRY Slovenia raises possibility of border barrier against migrants
  • Date: 20th October 2015
  • Summary: LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA (OCTOBER 20, 2015) (REUTERS) SLOVENIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY STATE SECRETARY, BOSTJAN SEFIC, TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Slovenian) SLOVENIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY STATE SECRETARY, BOSTJAN SEFIC, SAYING: "I don't know what the future will bring. And you know that Slovenia had a restrained attitude so far. But we cannot rule out the possibility of using ph
  • Embargoed: 4th November 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Slovenia
  • Country: Slovenia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8XXPR9LHM40LOIHLZI45R4URS
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Slovenia's interior ministry raised the possibility on Tuesday (October 20) of setting up physical barriers along its southeastern border with Croatia if the numbers of incoming migrants increased.
    Interior state secretary Bostjan Sefic said he could not exclude the possibility of safeguarding border crossings "with physical barriers," as he responded to a Reuters question about whether Slovenia would follow Hungary's example in setting up a fence.
    "I don't know what the future will bring. And you know that Slovenia had a restrained attitude so far. But we cannot rule out the possibility of using physical barriers to secure border crossings," Sefic said.
    Slovenia said on Tuesday it would deploy the army to guard its border, and appealed for help from the European Union as thousands of migrants continue to stream through the tiny country of 2.2 million, all of them arriving from Croatia after Hungary had closed its southern border and blocked their path north on Friday.
    "The important thing is that Slovenian army will have no police authority. They will only have some authority related to observing, redirecting and limiting movement of people and in cooperating with police in controlling groups of people. In that way they will mostly be deployed to help police forces - but everything will be led by the Slovenian police," Sefic said.
    "We have about 100 soldiers of the Slovenian army deployed in the field. At the moment, the maximum number we plan to have out there is about 100. They will be involved in logistics, technical support, and some expertise, and will also take part in joint border patrols with the police and other types of police work. I must stress that the army has no police authority and all procedures involving persons will be done by police officers," he added.
    As Slovenia tried to limit the influx of people into its territory, Croatia also had to limit entries from Serbia, creating backlogs at border crossing points, leaving many thousands to spending another cold night outdoors in the Balkans.
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