The Director General of the Police, Senad Jušić, met with the General Police Director of the Croatian Police, Nikola Milina, in Brežice today, 12 October 2023. The main topic of their talks was bilateral cooperation between the police forces of the two countries, in particular more effective border and migration management.

The meeting was held at the initiative of Slovenia’s Director General Jušić, backed by the Slovenian and Croatian Interior Ministers, Boštjan Poklukar and Davor Božinović, on the sidelines of the EU Home Affairs Council meeting in Brussels at the end of September. The bilateral meeting discussed the current situation concerning irregular migration and related criminal offences such as smuggling and trafficking in human beings. It was also aimed at making arrangements to intensify cooperation in preventing irregular crossings of the common internal border, with an emphasis on compensatory measures.

Jušić and Milina expressed their satisfaction with the strong levels of police cooperation. Jušić raised his expectation that Croatia would further strengthen its surveillance of the external Schengen border, as this would undoubtedly contribute to reducing secondary migration and illegal entries into Slovenia. He highlighted the initiative of the Ministers Poklukar and Božinović addressed to the European Commission to push for the conclusion of a status agreement between Frontex and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Slovenian and Croatian police forces have a solid record of professional cooperation and we want to deepen it further at both local and regional levels, looking forward to good results also in the framework of the joint operational working group. Joint activities such as mixed patrols and enhanced checks, as well as the work of the Slovenian Police Attaché in Zagreb further contribute to our close relations. The police chiefs agreed to pursue the intensified cooperation through mixed patrols and other joint activities. The two police forces exchange operational information at regional and local levels and coordinate activities on a daily basis based on local developments, which helps them plan enhanced checks and an optimal deployment of mixed patrols. The police chiefs also agreed to involve criminal investigators to detect and investigate people smuggling offences. All available technical means will be used by Slovenian and Croatian police to manage migration efficiently.

In addition to Director General of the Police Senad Jušić, the Slovenian delegation consisted of Robert Ferenc and Igor Ciperle, Deputy Directors General of the Police, Jože Senica, Assistant Director General of the Police, Srečko Jarc, Slovenian Police Attaché in Zagreb, Marko Gašperlin, Director of the Uniformed Police Directorate, Matjaž Jerkič, Assistant Director of the Criminal Police Directorate, and Anja Jazbinšek, representative of the European Affairs and International Cooperation Service.

The Croatian delegation included Nikola Milina, General Police Director, Jozo Šuker, Deputy General Police Director, Zoran Ničeno, Head of the Border Police Directorate, Dragan Tokić, Head of the Public Order and Security Directorate, Sonja Raguž, Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Directorate, and Vlatka Vulić Petković, Head of the International Cooperation Service.

After the meeting, the police chiefs made a press statement.