Slovenia, Croatia, Italy plan joint police patrols to curb illegal migration

Ljubljana, March 22 (IANS) Slovenia, Croatia and Italy are joining forces to implement trilateral border police patrols aimed at tackling illegal migration, Slovenian Interior Minister Bostjan Poklukar said.

He added on Thursday that the patrols may replace the temporary controls set up at their borders last October to curb illegal migration. The border controls were originally expected to last until June, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Our goal is to remove border controls on our (EU) internal borders," Poklukar told a joint news conference with his Croatian and Italian counterparts, Davor Bozinovic and Matteo Piantedosi, after their meeting in Slovenia.

"So we agreed to strengthen patrols as an alternative to these controls."

According to the Slovenian Police, the country registered 6,415 illegal border crossings in the first two months of this year, compared to 5,234 in the same period of 2023.