Zagreb - Croatia is not exposed to a mass and out-of-control migrant flow and it was not and will not be a migrant hotspot, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Thursday and dismissed the possibility of deploying the army on the border.
"Considering the migration pressures with which all Europe and the EU are faced, Croatia is not exposed to a mass and out-of-control migrant flow," he said in parliament, submitting a report on illegal migration since Croatia joined the Schengen Area on 1 January.
The report shows that 62,500 illegal crossings of the border were registered between 1 January and 31 October, up 73% on the year. However, in September illegal crossings fell by 7% from August and in October by 45% from September. In October, the annual drop was 51%.
The number of asylum seekers increased, with 60,440 registered in ten months, almost five times as many as in all of 2022. Of that number, Božinović said, only 1,400 actually applied for asylum, while the rest left Croatia. "So, 97% of them don't stay in Croatia."
About one million migrants have entered the EU illegally this year
About one million migrants have entered the EU illegally this year, he said, adding that a large number of them come from the Western Balkan pool, where they have been for a while, all of them trying to reach Western Europe.
The biggest migrant pressure at the moment is in Karlovac County, Božinović said, adding that the no-visa regime Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro have with many states contributes to that pressure on the Croatian border.
BiH has 1,800 border police officers but only 100 protect the green border, which is where most illegal migrants cross, he said. "The largest number of migrants on the route to us is detected and prevented only by the Croatian police."
He dismissed some MPs' arguments that Croatia should pay someone €20,000 per asylum seeker, saying that "someone should pay Croatia if we want to take in migrants, but this is far in the future."
Croatia won't be a migrant hotspot, the army won't be on the border
Croatia will continue to take every measure necessary to protect and monitor the external border and continue to invest in the border police force, which is "the largest and most active in the EU" and has been active since 2015, Božinović said.
"With such committed policing, Croatia never was, is not and won't be a migrant hotspot," he said, dismissing the possibility of deploying the army on the border, which has been requested by some MPs.
Today we have about 62,000 illegal crossings, while in 2015 and 2016 we had nearly 700,000 and the army was not on the border nor did anyone request that, Božinović said.
Such requests are likely due to next year's parliamentary election, he said, adding that given the Russian aggression and the war in the Middle East, the army should be left to do its constitutional job and not used for something for which it is not authorised.
"The Croatian police certainly can do this job and are doing it. It is one of the most efficient and most competent border police forces in Europe which guarantees citizens security," Božinović said, adding that it is not good to declare unsafe a state with a degree of security as high as Croatia.
He also dismissed Sinj Mayor Miro Bulj's (Bridge) idea about armed guards in places with a low percentage of illegal migrants and where they have not committed any crime.
Croatian police conducted 2.5 billion checks
Speaking about security and the threat of terrorism, Božinović said every person and migrant crossing the border was checked via the Schengen Information System and the US database of persons with possible links to terrorism.
Since June 2017, the Croatian police have conducted 2.5 billion checks, identifying 81,600 persons, vehicles or travel documents for which search warrants were issued, he said. Croatia ranked fourth in the EU last year in this respect, which shows that the job is getting done, he added.