Interior Minister Vesna Györkös Žnidar said at a press conference. She added that Slovenia will adjust its migration quotas to Austria’s recently introduced upper limit.

In order to limit the flow of refugees, the Slovenian government adopted three sets of measures. The first set includes tightening controls on the Schengen border. Only people who are formally allowed to enter Slovenia can now enter the country. Györkös Žnidar said that police will reject all persons who are not eligible to enter Slovenia and those who refuse to apply for asylum in the country.

The second measure is giving the Slovenian army emergency police powers, which means that troops will help police patrol the border. The measure goes into effect on February 22. Police have already stepped up border controls: on Saturday, police introduced stricter ID checks.

The third measure is drawing up a list of so-called safe countries. People from those countries can apply for asylum only in exceptional cases. The list includes the following countries: Algeria, Albania, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco, Bangladesh, Egypt, Bosna and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia.