On November 10th 2015 at the ”emergency” government assembly in Slovenia Slovenian prime minister Miro Cerar announced that the government with its ministers agreed on the establishment of the barbed wire, or what they politically correct call ‘technical obstacles‘, at the Croatian-Slovenian border. He announced that since Germany and Austria are tightening their asylum systems and threatening to let less and less people through their borders, Slovenia could experience a ”humanitarian crisis”, as the winter is comming and the country doesn’t possess enough infrastructure and resources. This is not just an egoistic move from the Slovenian supposedly centric government which by its own account promotes ”human rights and values”, but is a important part of the developing European Union’s immigration and asylum system. The move of building of the fence also comes after the end of the Greek fairy workers strike, which according to the mainstream media, temporarly slowed down the influx of people. After the strike, Slovenian minister of external affairs Karl Erjavec announced by its own sources that 30.000 are already on the way to Slovenia.
Slovenian government not only wants to show off by playing a role of the external Schengen guardian and a ”good” and obeying member state, but on its national level fears that if Austria and Germany close or additionally tighten their borders, it can become a so called ‘tampon zone’. Cerar is saying that he doesn’t want a ‘humanitarian catastrophe in Slovenia’ and the beginning of the emplacement of the barbed wire will serve only to regulate the influx of people. It is obvious that his words are hypocritical and need a radical translation: Slovenia, as well as the EU, doesn’t want the blood on its hands, that is why it is much easier if we keep the people at the external borderzones – in this case whether becoming or potential future member states of the EU (mostly Balkan countries) or Turkey – let us not forget the pushing future agreements between EU and Turkey regarding the management of the incoming people. This practice of externalization is not new for the EU, as we already seen in the practices of the agreements with the African countries to keep the people even from reaching the Mediterranean.
Even more worrying, regarding the development of the EU’s immigration and asylum system and Schengen zone, is the recently posted ‘Draft Council conclusions on measures to handle the refugee and
migration crisis’. To name only the most concerning points of the European Council and European Commission:
6. as regards border control for entry and exit into and out of the Schengen area, to assist the
Member States concerned in respecting their legal obligation to perform adequate controls.
This will involve a range of supporting measures by Frontex, gradually extending, as
necessary, to the deployment of Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RABITs);
7. to support the upscaling [by 1 December 2015] the Poseidon Sea Joint Operation in Greece
within the current operational plan;
(more – source: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2015/nov/eu-council-handling-refugee-migration-crisis-conclusions-draft-13738-15.pdf)
Slovenia already started to put the 1,8 m high barbed wire (more precisely razor wire) at parts of borders with Croatia (for now few hundred meters): at Velik Obrež (Brežice, Dobova) by the river Sotla and at Gibina (municipality Razkrižje).
(Cover photo: Luka Cjuha)