.png)
Zagreb - Croatian MPs on Tuesday supported the Agreement between the governments of Croatia and Hungary on cooperation in the fight against cross-border crime, but also warned of the problem of illegal migrants and criminal networks that take advantage of the absence of controls in the Schengen area.
The State Secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Žarko Katić, explained that the provisions of the existing international agreement from 2008 need to be adjusted so that the police officers of the two countries can cooperate better and more successfully in the daily performance of police duties.
The amendments to the agreement from 2008 are intended, he says, to delete the existing restrictions that create obstacles that make it difficult to carry out cross-border pursuits in the state territories of the contracting parties and the area of joint border patrols.
Katić warned that criminal networks take advantage of the lack of controls in the Schengen area in order to carry out their criminal activities and pointed out that joint patrols are a valuable tool for preventing this.
He recalled that the agreement was signed in Zagreb in April by Croatian Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović and his Hungarian counterpart Sándor Pintér.
During a short discussion, Željko Sačić (Club of Croatian Sovereigns) welcomed the agreement and also warned that the issue of illegal migration still remains open.
He also recalled the case of the director of the Hungarian company MOL Zsolt Hernádi, who is unavailable to the Croatian judiciary, and who was sentenced to prison for bribing Ivo Sanader, and for whom an international warrant and a European arrest warrant were issued.