Slovenia Abolishes Border Checks with Croatia and Hungary, Implemented in October 2023
Slovenia is abolishing temporary border checks with Croatia and Hungary, which were introduced in October 2023. The decision follows a call from the European Commission and aims to improve traffic flow. Police will use other forms of surveillance.
Slovenia has announced the abolition of temporary border checks at its borders with Croatia and Hungary. These measures were introduced in October 2023 in response to the situation in the Middle East following the Hamas attack on Israel, as well as due to Italy's implementation of similar checks.
According to STA agency, the Slovenian Ministry of Interior stated that instead of border control, the police will employ other forms of surveillance at the state border. The abolition of checks is also expected to improve traffic flow on already congested roads.
The decision by Ljubljana follows a call from the European Commission to nine Schengen Area countries that had introduced temporary border controls, including Slovenia, Italy, and Austria, to gradually lift them. The EC also emphasized that the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, set to take effect on June 12, will contribute to creating conditions for the phased abolition of controls at internal Schengen borders.
However, the Slovenian Ministry of Interior also reported that the draft law for the implementation of the pact in the country will not be adopted by the specified deadline, as the previous government failed to prepare the relevant documents in time. It is worth noting that German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on June 4 rejected the European Commission's request to abolish internal border checks. Earlier, in April, the Administrative Court of the German city of Koblenz ruled that border checks between Luxembourg and Germany were illegal, and this is not the first such instance in Germany, where courts have previously questioned the legality of checks at the border with Austria.