Members of the European Parliament also chased through the woods on the Balkan route

They had arrived at the border between Bosnia and Croatia to observe the anti-immigration operations of the Croatian police. But for the first time in the history of the European Union, four MEPs were unceremoniously turned back by the police to prevent them from reaching the checkpoint, where migrants and asylum seekers are routinely turned back.

Among the four MEPs there is also Pietro Bartolo – the Lampedusa doctor, among the first since 1992, to take care of the first examinations of all the migrants landed in Lampedusa and of those staying in the reception centre, supporter of the reception of immigrants and asylum seekers and of the need for humanitarian corridors against human trafficking – current vice-president of the European Union’s Civil Rights Commission.

(Source: Avvenire 30/01/2021)

Photo:Antonello Scavo

After a long and useless negotiation, passed through the Croatian ambassador to Italy, Pietro Bartolo, followed by Alessandra Moretti, Pier Francesco Majorino and delegation leader Brando Benifei, together with three reporters, passed the cellophane tape with the police insignia, heading towards the barrier separating the two countries, less than 300 metres away. At that point, the commander ordered the officers to chase the group of observers and prevent them from seeing the checkpoint in the woods. A chase ensued along the dirt road between the fields. While several officers grabbed the journalists, a dozen others obstructed the passage by setting up a barrier amidst protests from the MPs.

European values frozen in the snow of the Balkan route.

Avvenire.it’s reportage takes us among migrants rejected at the gates of Europe and imprisoned in Bosnia in camps like stalag: the camps for enemies captured in war.