Slovenia has started shutting down crossing points in order to meet the requirements for entry into the Schengen area, according to a Ljubljana daily.
Slovenia has already demolished two of the scores of bridges along its border with Croatia and is planning to tear down hundreds of others by the end of September, the Ljubljana-based daily Delo said on Monday (August 13th).
The move is part of Slovenia's efforts to meet the requirements for entry into the Schengen area by the end of this year. By September 30th, a total of 115 crossing points on the country's border with Croatia, including bridges and roads, will be shut down. At the end of the campaign, conducted by Slovenia's public administration ministry, 60 crossing points will remain operational along the 670km border between the two countries.
"The bridges that have been torn down will not affect any of the citizens who live next to the border with Croatia," Belgrade-based B92 quoted Ljubljana police spokesman Drago Menegalija as telling Delo.
Commenting on the demolition of bridges at the villages of Dobovac and Bistrica -- both on the Sutla River -- he insisted that the campaign would target only those crossings that are not used too frequently or are abused for criminal and illegal migration purposes.
However, people living in the areas on both sides of the border complain that the planned steps will make their life more difficult. Many local residents of Dobovac and Bistrica, for example, are said to own land on the opposite bank of the river.
Others say they are uncomfortable because the new measures would lead to increased police presence. Some argue that destroying the bridges will do little to stop illegal crossings, since the Sutla is shallow enough at some points that people can wade through it.
Slovenia joined the EU in May 2004 along with nine other Central and East European nations, becoming the first former Yugoslav republic to enter the bloc. Croatia is the only non-EU member state with which it shares a border.
As an EU member and signatory to the Schengen Agreement, Slovenia is obliged to bring its border control regime in line with the requirements of the acquis on the bloc's external borders.
Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the Schengen Agreement in 1985, undertaking the commitment to gradually remove controls at their common borders and introduce freedom of movement for all nationals of the signatory member states, other member states or third countries. The specific arrangements and safeguards for implementing freedom of movement were spelled out in the Schengen Convention signed by the five countries in 1990, entering into force about five years later.
Since joining the EU, Slovenia has begun the partial enforcement of Schengen provisions on visa policy and preventing illegal immigration. It has also strengthened bilateral co-operation with neighbouring EU-member states Austria, Hungary and Italy.
The country hopes to join the Schengen area by the end of this year. In the meantime, it expects to have its data entered into the Schengen Information System on September 1st. (SETimes, Albania Post)
No comments:
Post a Comment