March 4 (SeeNews) - Croatia's government said on Thursday it has approved amendments to the country's laws on border control and defence, making it possible to deploy troops to support police forces in controlling migrant flows.
The draft has been sent to Croatia's parliament for approval.
The amendments foresee troop deployment to the country's borders when the prime minister or the interior minister deem such measures necessary, defense minister, Josip Buljevic, said in a government statement.
"The interior minister or the prime minister can launch an initiative to deploy armed forces to assist the police at the borders. They then forward it to the defence ministry, which, with the consent the country's president, proposes to use armed forces for border protection to the country's government. If the government grants the green light, the interior and defense ministries conclude an agreement and the decision enters into force," minister Buljevic explained the deployment procedure.
The grounds for army deployment have not yet been defined, but the minister admitted that so far Croatia has not been in a situation where assistance of the armed forces has been necessary.
Amendments are, however, necessary in order to eliminate threats to Croatia's sovereignty, the draft law on border control reads.
Elsewhere in Southeast Europe, Slovenia's parliament gave the green light for the deployment of army units at the Croatian Schengen border in late February. Bulgaria also consented that the army keep its borders safe in case police forces are insufficient, while Serbia's president Tomislav Nikolic authorised the country's defence minister to put the army on alert due to heightened tension on the Macedonian border.