Slovenia to erect more border fencing to curb illegal crossings

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Slovenia is putting up more fencing on the border with Croatia to prevent illegal crossings, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

Some 40 km (25 miles) of temporary fencing will be erected this year, the ministry said, but did not specify where. Since 2015 Slovenia has erected about 196 km of fencing on the 670-km border with Croatia.

In the first two months of 2020, police reported 1,165 illegal crossings of the border, almost 80% more than in the same period of last year.

The centre-right government of Prime Minister Janez Jansa had said, shortly before assuming power in March, that more fencing should be built to curb illegal crossings.

During the refugee crisis of 2015 and 2016 about half a million illegal migrants passed through the country in a period of six months on their way through the Balkans towards wealthier western European countries.

(Reporting By Marja Novak; Editing by Pravin Char)