Today, Minister of the Interior, Aleš Hojs, addressed the participants of the ceremony on the occasion of the Day of the Faculty of Security Sciences at the University of Maribor. In his address, he touched upon the current situation in the country due to the coronavirus and highlighted the key tasks of his mandate.
According to the Minister, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown to be a serious global health problem. In the spring, Slovenia proved to be exceptional with its measures. However, as a country, we will have to take action again, he said. “This time, I can’t imagine shutting down the economy, restricting movement between municipalities and taking action against this hidden disease in an extremely restrictive way as it was done in the spring. This time the approach will be different: to a much greater extent this struggle will depend on each individual to behave as instructed and to be aware that he is responsible for himself, his family members, neighbours… at this time the state will interfere less in our private lives.”
He emphasised that the current situation is not only a health matter, but also a matter of national security. “My priority remains national security, which ensures our work, residence, economic development and feelings of safety in our country.”
He highlighted the three key things of his mandate: “To change the legislation regulating asylum policy, the possibility of entry of foreigners and to partially reform the organisation of the Slovenian police.” He warned about the abuse of asylum procedures saying that “Slovenia had almost three thousand applicants for international protection, but the vast majority of them disappeared. They enter the country illegally and the moment they find out that we will return them back home in accordance with the regulations, they decide to apply for an asylum. There are no restrictions of movements in the asylum homes, thus 70% of these people disappear. This is a blatant abuse of asylum procedures.”
Similarly, with regards to hiring or reuniting families of foreigners working in Slovenia, Minister Hojs added that “they have observed abuses of the official procedures”. People register as workers in Slovenia, reunite their families during the year in order to be entitled to social benefits, but then they suddenly disappear alongiside with their families (they leave for Germany). The control regarding asylum and foreigners in our society needs to be tightened and regulated, and those who take advantage of our legislation must be given a clear signal that we will not tolerate this anymore.
Amendments to the Aliens Act and the International Protection Act are in the final phase of inter-ministerial coordination, and by the end of the year we will try to reform the legislation regarding the police. The Minister sees an important role that the Faculty of Security Sciences plays here: “Historically, your faculty is very closely connected with the Ministry of the Interior. Not only through the years, but also through the names: from the Police and Security College, the Faculty of Police and Security Sciences to the name you bear today. ”The Minister thanked all the professors – current and former – and was pleased that graduates of this faculty are very employable. At the end, he emphasized the importance of cooperation between the ministry and the faculty, and called for the issue of premises between the ministry and the faculty to be resolved during this term.