The Croatian, Slovenian and Italian interior ministers said on Tuesday the cooperation between the three countries' police forces and interior ministries would expand to Western Balkan countries to prevent illegal migration and human trafficking.

Davor Bozinovic of Croatia, Bostjan Poklukar of Slovenia and Matteo Piantedosi of Italy first met in Trieste, Italy last November, agreeing a stronger cooperation in the joint monitoring of borders on the Western Balkan migrant route.

At today's meeting in Buzet, Croatia, they concluded that the joint police operation by the three states has been successful and that no traffic jams have been registered on the borders.

“The citizens of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia have not felt the controls to such an extent that they would disrupt their movement, notably in local border areas. This year alone, we have arrested 90 migrant smugglers in Croatia,” Bozinovic said after the meeting.

The border controls have been fruitful, said Piantedosi, adding that since 21 October the Italian police have checked 160,000 persons and 96,000 vehicles, and registering 1,600 illegal crossings, including 900 persons that have been returned.

About 70 suspicious persons have been stopped, including 50 human traffickers, and dozens of persons who attempted to cross the border were known to the police in connection with terrorism, Piantedosi said.

The Schengen Area does not work for the time being, said Poklukar, adding that the three ministers agreed that the police controls will not stop the transport of goods or cause problems to commuters along the border who have to cross it for work.

Next meeting on 21 March in Slovenia

The expansion of the cooperation to the Western Balkans will be defined at the next meeting in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia on 21 March.

“At the next meeting in Brdo pri Kranju, we wish to look into the possibility of jointly doing everything in the fight against migrant smuggling,” said Bozinovic.

“We agreed to work together in the Western Balkans region since we have a large number of illegal migrants. Last year, Slovenia caught 60,000 foreigners illegally crossing the border. That's a large number for Slovenia,” said Poklukar.

Today's meeting also discussed the presence of Frontex in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which a large number of illegal migrants use to enter Croatia and then other EU countries, and supporting the Schengen accession of Bulgaria and Romania, he said.