49,000 MIGRANTS ENTERED SCHENGEN AREA WITHOUT CHECKS, WHILE PEOPLE FROM THE BALKANS ARE HUMILIATED AT BORDER CROSSINGS

BANJA LUKA, JULY 31 /SRNA/ - President Milorad Dodik said today that 49,000 migrants entered the Schengen Area in a single day without checks, while all people from the Western Balkans are being harassed and humiliated at border crossings.

Dodik said that the migrants entered without passports, photographs being taken, or fingerprints being collected. "And you harass and humiliate our people and all those from the Western Balkans who are only passing through, travelling for business or tourism, and who have biometric passports, at border crossings. You say that you are protecting your borders. Your system has failed, in case you did not know. It serves no useful purpose," Dodik said. He noted that migrants do not come to border crossings. He said that it was now clear how right Republika Srpska, Croatia, Hungary and all the countries that closed their borders to migrants had been. He added that it was now also clear why it had been important to remove Viktor Orban, and that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was right to demand the suspension of Spain from the Schengen Agreement. "You have spent 16 billion euros to make life more difficult for people from this region, while claiming that you care about their rights and freedoms. You count and add up our drivers' hours to satisfy bureaucratic requirements, while talking about the freedom of movement of people and goods. When will this hypocrisy end?" Dodik asked.