OREANDA-NEWS   As of today Croatian police and security services have access to the Schengen Information System (SIS), which, according to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, will improve the efficiency and credibility of Croatian police and security services networked with partner countries.

The Schengen Information System, which was presented on Tuesday to Croatia's prime minister, minister of the interior and reporters in the Bregana border police station, is a significant step in fulfilling criteria for entering the Schengen system.

The information system enables access to the main tool for police cooperation in the Schengen Area which makes it possible to locate more than 200,000 missing persons, vehicles, documents and items annually.

The system consists of more than 70 million data that countries with access can search and inspect. Implementing the system, valued at 5 million euro, is financed from European funds.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that Croatia being given access to that system meant that the work done in achieving the objective of including Croatia in the Schengen area had been assessed well.

"The fact that our services, police and diplomatic representatives will be able to check and search for data will improve the efficiency of Croatian police and security services and that way we will have a comprehensive insight into everything that exists at the European Union level," Plenkovic said.

Apart from Croatia now having access to SIS, the joint border crossing at Bregana has been moved from the Slovenian to the Croatian side, which will facilitate additional manoeuvres for a speedier and easier flow of vehicles and passengers during the tourist season.

The agreement between Croatian and Slovenian police to that effect is part of a package that is part of the dialogue conducted after a meeting with Slovenia's Prime Minister Miro Cerar and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker, in the context of bottlenecks that were reported after the introduction of new Schengen rules and systematic controls, said Plenkovic.

The risk of major traffic bottlenecks and inconvenience to passengers was felt as early as during the Easter holidays and the reasonable approach taken by Croatia and Slovenia, with expert and legal assistance provided by the European Commission, has led to an agreed regime that has shown that security is being controlled, PM Plenkovic said and added that Croatian police are trained to promptly recognise what types of vehicles should be covered by targeted controls to facilitate a faster flow and those that require additional checks.

The prime minister said that there was no connection between waiting in columns at the border for five hours and the terrorist attacks in Brussels, London, Manchester and Paris.

"That type of reflex doesn't exist, however, terrorism is a reality and we have to have a serious response which we are providing in joint actions with other EU member states while at the same time taking account of national and economic interests... securing the passage toward eastern Europe and facilitating the arrival of tourists in Croatia," he said.

The prime minister described Croatia's access to SIS as an important step that will serve the relevant authorities to continue with actively working on meeting all the criteria to enter the Schengen Area.

An evaluation of SIS will be conducted in September as part of a process of open dialogue with the Commission. Additional reports are expected at the end of the year, after which serious political-diplomatic action will follow to achieve that goal and see to it that Croatia is recognised as a country that is capable of protecting the external border and that is a reliable partner in the area of freedom, security and justice that the EU has been building for the past 25 years.