STA, March 9 – Interior Minister Vesna Györkös Žnidar has reiterated Slovenia's opposition to an extension of Austria's control on the border with Slovenia, currently in force until the end of May, while her Austrian colleague Herbert Kickl called for the contrary as he believes there are many reasons for such a measure.
"It's no secret that Slovenia is unhappy with the fact that there has been border control in the EU or within the Schengen zone for more than two years," Györkös Žnidar said at a session of the EU's Justice and Home Affairs Council in Brussels on Thursday.
She reiterated that Slovenia was not against this measure as such, but it was against its untargeted, disproportionate and unjustified use on the internal border with Austria.
Györkös Žnidar noted once again that the statistics on illegal crossings of the border did not warrant such a measure, as the Austrian security authorities last year returned only 39 people to Slovenia.
According to the Slovenian minister, Slovenia protects the external Schengen border very well and is a credible member of the Schengen zone in general.
Kickl meanwhile called again today for the control on the border with Slovenia to be extended, as there are many reasons for the measure.
Györkös Žnidar expects to meet her Austrian counterpart soon, perhaps in the coming weeks, to extend her opposition to the measure once again. She talked about the issue today with Dutch Interior Ministry State Secretary Mark Harbers.
Györkös Žnidar expects that the EU will make some steps in the future which are necessary for Europe to return to the concepts it was founded on, including a normally functioning Schengen zone.
"The fact is that this negatively affects free flow. The fast is that consequences of such unjustified measures are eventually paid by EU citizens."
The minister added that the measures probably affected cooperation between citizens along the border, and that economic damage was being caused. She did note that there was no statistics to support the claim.
