CONFERENCE ON ILLEGAL MIGRATIONS HELD IN SLOVENIA

LJUBLJANA, Oct 28 (Hina) - Interior ministers and ministry officials from ten Central and South-East European countries pledged to continue cooperating in the prevention of illegal migrations and related crime at a regional conference which ended at Brdo kod Kranja, Slovenia, on Monday. The conference was also attended by representatives of the European Commission and Denmark, the European Union's current chair. #L# This is the second such conference held in Slovenia. The gathering was organised by the Slovene and Austrian interior ministries, and last year's number of participating countries has risen from five to ten. "This is sort of a declaration of war to what arrives in Europe via the so-called Balkan route, in line with European security standards," Slovene Interior Minister Rado Bohinc said. He said this year's conference was an important step forward in relation to last year's, and stressed the importance of operational police cooperation and exchange of information among countries which cooperate within the conference. Talking to Croatian reporters after the event, Croatian Interior Minister Sime Lucin said the imminent adoption of a law on foreigners, adjusted to EU guidelines, the implementation of the EU visa policy, and the adoption of a law on asylum, which was being prepared, would be another step in domestic legislation towards the prevention of illegal migrations and crime. Illegal migrations from South-East Europe towards the West are closely tied to different forms of organised crime and human rights violations. They represent a problem not only to the countries which are the immigrants' final destination, but also to their native countries, reads a joint statement adopted by the interior ministers and ministry officials of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Albania and Bosnia- Herzegovina. (hina) rml sb