Croatian Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic has expressed concern about the migrant situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and welcomed the European Union's intention to grant €5 million to the country to strengthen the capacity of its border police, the Ministry of the Interior said in a press release carried by state agency Hina on Thursday evening.

“Croatia emphasizes the importance of opening up the possibility of Frontex forces acting in the countries of southeastern Europe with their consent and supports efforts to strengthen the capacity for more effective migration management in third countries, as well as an exchange of information to more efficiently combat smuggling networks and a more efficient readmission of illegal migrants,” Božinović said at a video conference of EU ministers of home affairs.

He said that Croatia had been continually stressing the importance of compiling a list of safe countries and safe countries of origin to accelerate and facilitate decisions on granting or rejecting applications for international protection in the member states situated on the Union’s external borders.

He noted that Croatia’s responsibility lay in implementing the border procedures in place and in making up for the shortcomings in neighboring countries.

“That’s why in the last four years Croatia has invested €200 million in technical equipment, operating costs and strengthening the human resources of the border police,” Bozinovic said, adding that Croatia needed additional funds to fully establish asylum, border, reception and detention facilities.

He also highlighted the importance of establishing interoperable systems for integrated border management during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying that it was important to continue monitoring and coordinating epidemiological measures at EU level, especially in light of a new virus strain.