While the government of Robert Golob is trying to create the impression that the opposition is using the warnings against illegal migrants to score political points, the footage from the ground shows that the warnings are far from unnecessary. Footage from Subotica, which is located on the border between Serbia and Hungary, shows how large crowds of migrants are moving in the direction of Central and Western Europe, in search of a better and more carefree life.
As we can see in from the video that was recorded near the Serbian-Hungarian border, it is definitely not refugee families with small children that are coming towards Slovenia along the Balkan migrant route. Instead, it is mostly young men, who are fit to fight, that are coming to Europe. Instead of doing everything in their power to ensure the safety of its citizens, the Slovenian authorities have populistically decided to remove the barbed wire from the border.
“The new migration policy advocates a humane approach to people in need, and the suffering at the borders must end – as must the tragic deaths,” said Minister of the Interior Tatjana Bobnar, who is pushing hard for the removal of the wire at the border, even though that goes against the recommendations of experts in the field. In fact, according to former Minister of the Interior Aleš Hojs, the Intelligence and Security Service of the Ministry of Defence, which was carrying out studies or analyses related to the fence, in their last presentation, proposed an additional erection of the fence, and not its removal.
Preliminary data from Frontex, European Union’s external border control agency, have revealed that illegal border crossings within the EU territory have increased by 86 percent on average, compared to last year. European Union Member States recorded 34,570 illegal crossings in July, which is 63 percent more than in the same month in 2021. The Western Balkan route remained the most active, with a total of 70,770 attempted illegal border crossings in seven months, a staggering 205 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
By announcing the removal of the wire, the Golob government has further encouraged illegal crossings, even though police statistics clearly show that migration is far from abating. In the first seven months, the police dealt with over 8,200 foreigners who crossed the border illegally. Most of them were migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Given that the police officers dealt with 4,552 illegal crossings in the same period last year, the increase in illegal crossings is more than evident. It should be borne in mind that police statistics do not even begin to cover all of the illegal migrants that actually come to our country, so the real numbers are even higher.
Sara Kovač
