Slovenia will extend the fence along the border with Croatia to prevent illegal migrants from entering, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs announced on Wednesday.

During a visit to the Savinjska region, which stretches from the Croatian to the Austrian border, Hojs inspected the situation on the border with Croatia, announcing the erection of several dozen more kilometres of anti-migrant fencing.

He said that work could begin in two or three weeks,

Slovenia started putting up the razor-wire fence during the great migrant crisis of 2015/2016 and now it stretches along more than half of the length of the border between the two countries.

Hojs said that the present intelligence data did not indicate a possible major wave of migrants from Afghanistan after the country was taken over by the Taliban. He recalled that EU interior ministers made it clear at their recent meeting that the EU would not keep its doors wide open to Afghan refugees and migrants as it had during the 2015/2016 crisis.

“That means that Europe will help only those who really need help, and they are vulnerable groups, women and children,” Hojs said.

Slovenia lies on the so-called Balkan refugee route towards western and central Europe. Unlike several years ago, it is seeing fewer attempts by refugees and migrants to enter the country illegally. According to official figures, 4,495 illegal border crossings were recorded in the first seven months of this year, a decrease of 70 percent compared with the same period in 2020, when 7,577 such cases had been registered.