Refugee Crisis ‘Extraordinary' Challenge for Such Small Country as Slovenia

Ivo Vajgl, a member of the European Parliament for Slovenia, said that the Slovenian parliament's decision does not mean that the Slovenian army has limitless authority in dealing with undocumented immigrants.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Yulia Shamporova – The ongoing refugee crisis in Europe is an issue of exceptional difficulty for such a small country as Slovenia, which is pushing the Slovenian parliament to apply extra measures to control the enormous migration flow, a member of the European Parliament for Slovenia told Sputnik.

On Wednesday, the Slovenian authorities adopted amendments to the country’s defense legislation, giving the army more power to exercise border control.

"Slovenia is a small country, with only two million inhabitants and [a landmass of] 21,000 square kilometers [13,000 square miles]. The situation with the refugees’ crisis is an extraordinary challenge for it," Ivo Vajgl stated.

The Slovenian parliament's decision does not mean that the Slovenian army has limitless authority in dealing with undocumented immigrants, he added.

"The decision of the Slovenian parliament has only one scope: to increase the number of personnel and to reinforce the logistic in order to be able to steer and control the flow of refugees which exceeds the capacities of the police and organizations of civil society of Slovenia," Vajgl stressed.

Europe is currently struggling to find a solution to the large-scale migrant crisis, as thousands of refugees continue to flee conflicts and poverty in the Middle Eastern and North African countries trying to cross over to more prosperous European nations.

Thousands of migrants on the Croatian-Hungarian border streamed into Slovenia last week after Hungary closed its borders with Croatia, citing the need to protect the European Union's frontiers.