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Slovenian border municipalities team up with government to tackle migration

Slovenian border municipalities team up with government to tackle migration

The mayors of 16 municipalities met with the Prime Minister to discuss cooperation

Last week, the mayors of 16 Slovenian border municipalities met with the Prime Minister of Slovenia Marjan Sarec, in order to discuss the issues that are plaguing their constituents – most notably linked to the adverse effects of illegal migration.

In a letter sent to the government at the end of September, local authorities proposed joint initiatives aimed at safeguarding the local population as well as the environment - "We need to provide everything in time to prevent incidents that could endanger human lives or to unacceptably worsen living conditions in border areas," read the text of a letter sent by the 16 mayors.

Problems and solutions

In their latest meeting with government officials, representatives of the local authorities came forward with concrete proposals – including additional funding for construction and maintenance of road infrastructure, forest clearing and the deployment of additional police officers at the border.

Following the meeting with the Prime Minister, Andrej Kavšek, Mayor of Črnomelj, stated that "We welcome the start of dialogue and the exchange of views. We agree in many respects, but in many respects, we have different views,". In order to continue their joint work, the municipalities and the government agreed on the creation of a working group which should start operating within the next couple of weeks.

This was pretty much the only tangible achievement of the meeting between authorities – for the most part the mayors wanted to air their grievances and have them on the record with the government, as explained by the Mayor of Ilirska Bistrica Emil Rojc.

The mayors are of the belief that their border municipalities face unique problems which must be tackled with unique solutions, especially tailored for concrete scenarios. They also believe that without additional funding, any measures will be for naught.

The working group will be spearheaded by the Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar, who will do his best to solve the issues presented by the municipal governments.

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