Caught on Camera: Croatia’s ‘Schengen’ Border with Serbia

A human stands little chance of passing undetected.

Pero Ruzolcic, head of the border police in Tovarnik, said the upgrade began well before Croatia joined the EU in mid-2013.

And far from a sign of teething troubles, long queues at the border in the days after Croatia joined the Schengen zone were much as expected during the festive season.

"From the pre-accession funds, we already acquired equipment for border control and surveillance, vehicles, cameras - stationary and mobile - motiondetectors, radars," Ruzolcic told BIRN.

"And when we take into account the configuration of the ground and the fact that this area is a plain, we can be satisfied.We have a complete overview of the border."

One police officer is enough to monitor a big part of the border/Photo:Vuk Tesija Border upgrades

For much of the 20th century, when Croatia and Serbia were both part of socialist Yugoslavia, there was no border here. Now, it is armed with cameras up and down its 317.6 km.

In Vukovar-Srijem County, which takes in roughly half the length of the border, there are 13 thermal imaging cameras, each with a range of up to 10 km.

Tovarnik was grim the winter morning when this reporter visited. Traffic was slow.

"Nothing significant has changed since January 1; preparations for entering the Schengen zone began with Croatia's entry into the European Union, so January 1 did not really bring anything new to our work," Ruzolcic told BIRN.

His deputy, Ivan Peulic, said: "We harmonised the national legislation with the Schengen acquis even before entering the European Union, so we didn't have to make any major changes when the date came. We adopt and adapt to the European Commission directives."