The government of Slovenia has stated that it intends to dismantle a border fence, created during the height of the migrant crisis along its border with Croatia, by the end of the year.
The Slovenian government under Prime Minister Robert Golob, a green-liberal politician who replaced pro-Trump populist Janez Jansa after elections in April, has vowed to dismantle the border fence along the Croatian border, which was initially put in place to stem the tide of migrants streaming across the Balkans in 2015 and 2016.
While both countries are members of the European Union, only Slovenia is a member of the open borders Schengen Area.
According to a report from the European Union-funded website InfoMigrants, the current border fence is around 124 miles (200 km) long and covers around a third of the total border between the two countries.
Croatia has seen a number of border-crossing attempts by illegals in recent years, including incidents in 2018 that turned violent. In June of that year, a mob of 200 or so migrants stormed the Croatian border with Bosnia and attempted to push and fight their way through police guarding the border.
Migrant crossings have continued since then, with Croatian authorities revealing last November that a German reporter had been helping migrants cross the border and handing him a fine of 500 euros (£420/$565).
The situation along the Balkan route has changed dramatically since the start of the year and the European Union border agency Frontex has recorded a massive surge in activity along the route.
Frontex claimed that in the first three months of this year the number of attempts to enter the EU along the Balkan route had doubled compared to the same period in 2021.
The border agency went as far as to warn that Europe may be facing another migrant crisis similar to 2015 and 2016 as the number of illegal entries was approaching numbers not seen since that period.
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