Miro Cerar, prime minister of Slovenia, said that there are limits that Europe cannot cross, and rejected criticism that by announcing the placement of barbed wire on the border with Croatia he is giving in to nationalist political demands.
So far more than 150,000 refugees have crossed Slovenia, and in an interview with the Maribor daily Vecer Cerar said that he is not a nationalist, but a patriot who wants to protect his country from an excessive refugee wave, if Europe does not find a common solution.
“For now we are still waiting for a common European solution to the crisis, but if there isn’t one, in an extreme situation the borders in the end must be protected with wire, police, and even the military. This is no longer just a hypothetical assumption,” he said.
On Thursday the Slovenian parliament discussed a possible tightening of the regime of passage for migrants on the Croatian border, as well as the Schengen border, and the media reported that the government has purchased a large amount of fencing and barbed wire.
In parliament, Cerar said that most of this depends on Germany and Austria, whose actions Slovenia intends to follow, but it is not excluded that they will act independently and decisively, although the border will not be completely closed.
STA published a poll showing that 79 percent of Slovenians believe the country must close its southern border to migrants, immediately after Germany and Austria introduce the first major restrictions for receiving refugees and asylees.
Source: Oslobodjenje.ba
