LJUBLJANA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa on Wednesday offered the help of his country's police force to Poland in protecting its border with Belarus, which is also the external border of the European Union (EU), against illegal migration.
"Slovenia is offering direct help of Slovenian policemen if Poland would assess that such help is needed," Jansa said at a joint news conference with visiting Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Morawiecki called upon the illegal migrants to stop converging on Poland's borders, saying that "illegal migration does not enable entrance to the European Union."
Jansa, current president of the Council of the EU until the end of this year, thanked Poland for preventing the illegal migrants from entering the EU. Over the past weeks, thousands of illegal migrants remained trapped on Poland's border with Belarus.
"Slovenia condemns the actions of the Belarusian regime, of President (Alexander) Lukashenko, which exploit people to achieve political aims and attempt to destabilize not only the situation in Poland but also in the whole EU," Jansa said.
"The EU should support its member states that protect its external borders by co-financing all measures, including physical barriers along the border, as these measures prevent violence and illegal border crossings and replace the use of more invasive measures," Jansa said.
Slovenia's border with Croatia is the southern border of the EU's borderless Schengen area. Jansa said that Slovenia recorded 8,500 attempts to illegally cross its border this year, down from 14,000 in 2020. Since 2016, Slovenia has erected a barbed wire fence along a large stretch of its border with Croatia to curb illegal migration.
Jansa also expressed concern over the high number of Russian Army forces stationed along the border between Russia and Ukraine, saying the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) must remain vigilant. Enditem
