Croatia Drags Heels on Border-Monitoring Mechanism to Prevent Migrant Abuses

Croatia's Interior Ministry was tasked during a November visit to Zagreb by officials of the European Commission and the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) with drawing up a draft mechanism as a basis for negotiations. But the government's delay in submitting a proposal prompted the Commission to send a reminder on January 20 and European Commission spokesperson Adalbert Jahnz confirmed to BIRN that a draft had still not been received by February 8.

Croatia's Interior Ministry told BIRN in an email that it is "too early" to provide information on the architecture of the mechanism, as it "is a very sensitive issue". It also confirmed that details of the proposal have not yet been communicated to the Commission, because "the harmonisation procedure at the national level is still pending".

Croatian border policemen keep watch at Maljevac border crossing with Bosnia And Herzegovina as a group of migrants attempting to cross into Croatia block the crossing, Velika Kladusa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 25 October 2018. EPA-EFE/FEHIM DEMIR Pattern of delays

However, this is not the first time Croatia has been caught dragging its heels on coming up with a border-monitoring mechanism. In 2018, the Commission allocated 300,000 euros in emergency funding for this purpose amid mounting evidence of push-backs and poor treatment of migrants attempting to cross into the country.

Over the subsequent two years, Croatia has batted away questions about implementation of a monitoring mechanism, with the authorities claiming either that the mechanism was unnecessary since monitoring functions were already working or that the program was actually being implemented. In November, the European Ombudsman, following a complaint by Amnesty International, opened an...