Police are technically prepared for entry into the Schengen zone. The only open issue is the Schengen Information System, which however depends on the readiness of the EU, Andrej Rupnik of the General Police Directorate told the press on Monday.
Speaking just as the first EU expert group was starting to evaluate the country's readiness for Schengen area, Rupnik said the police had already completed most of the tasks and will be ready to enter the Schengen Information System in 2007.
The police intends to publish a call for applications soon, so as to employ an additional 300 to 400 police officers who will be trained for the protection of the Schengen border in a special programme, Rupnik said.
According to the government's plans, a total of 1,998 Slovenian officers will eventually protect the Schengen border.
However, Rupnik pointed out that the police is also subject to restrictions on employment introduced for the state administration, so it "faces the fact" of having to adapt to the overall conditions in the state administration.
Rupnik is convinced that the final number of officers will be sufficient for adequate border protection. The police will also transfer staff from low-priority fields to tasks falling under the Schengen regime.
The evaluation with an assessment of international police cooperation, will be carried out until June in five segments.
The subsequent evaluation missions will look into personal data protection and the protection of marine, land and air borders respectively.
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