Police Expect Recommendations on Schengen Land Border Evaluation

Ptuj, 19 May

While the Slovenian police believe that the EU Schengen evaluation team was pleasantly surprised with the country's preparedness to join the Schengen zone, they still expect some recommendations, especially regarding infrastructure, Danijel Lorbek of the border police department has said.

"Our impression is that the members of the commission were very pleased with the activities of the Slovenian police in safeguarding the land border [with Croatia] and with the checks at border-crossing," Lorbek told the press in the town of Ptuj (NE) on Wednesday.
"They were also pleased with the abilities of Slovenian police and their expert knowledge obtained through additional training," he revealed.
The police still expects the team to write several recommendations, especially on those border-crossings where the infrastructure has not yet been completed, however, in line with plans all works will be completed by October 2007.
Slovenia still needs some additional technical equipment to successfully safeguard the border, with procurement procedures already being launched, he explained.
The 15-strong EU team, including 13 experts from EU member states, a representative of the European Commission and another from the EU's Council concluded their five-day examination on Friday.
The police also informed the team of the organisation of Slovenian police in monitoring the border, its powers, as well as its cooperation with other state bodies and foreign police forces, Lorbek added.
The EU experts visited the general police directorate in Ljubljana and examined the activities of the border police stations in Koper (SW), Krsko (SE) and Maribor (NE), as well as at border crossings.
It also paid a visit to the asylum seekers centre in the town of Postojna (SW) and carried out a night-time surveillance run of the border.
The evaluation of Slovenia's capabilities in implementing EU Schengen provisions began in February, when police cooperation was inspected. The maritime border was appraised on 3 and 4 April, while the air border will be assessed on 26 and 27 June.
The internal border-free Schengen area currently includes 15 states, excluding the UK and Ireland, but including Norway and Iceland.
On 28 October 2007, Switzerland and eight new EU members from Eastern and Central Europe are expected to join the Schengen border agreement, after the EU decides in the summer of 2007 which countries meet the criteria.

Police Expect Recommendations on Schengen Land Border Evaluation

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