In 2021, we traveled in the winter along the Croatian-Slovenian border from Bosiljevo to the Piran Bay and on the Croatian-Hungarian border in the area of the important landscapes of Čambina and Križnice. Concluding this trip, we covered the entire area of the Croatian border with the Slovenian and Hungarian states.

28. 11. - 10. 12. 2021.

After a year of break form visiting the border areas do to Kovid pandemic, in 2021. we continued to follow the border line in search of a fence and razor wire. This time in winter we went on the border of Slovenia and Croatia. The idea was to continue from where we stoped in 2017. We started from village Fratrovci close to a oficial border crossing Bosiljevo, through Gorski Kotar mountainous area towards the Piran bay at the sea. After passing through all Croatia-Slovenia border we went to Last part of Croatia Hungary border that we stil didn’t visit at the area of Križnica, Fernandovec and Čambina.
‍
We talked and interviewed the lumberjacks, the police, the army, the waitresses, the retired people, the restaurant owner and a man who hardly has a mony for survival. To visit border area in the winter gave us experience of a hard existence and gave us a lot of problems moving around on inaccessible roads do to the weather conditions. We documented the travel with photos, videos, interviews and sound scapes.

On this trips we never encountered a migrant but a memories of them and their non existing presence. The clossest that we got to them was a found documents of the whole Afgan family. Traveling like this, especially in winter, is extremely difficult, but at least we have the opportunity to find accommodation and a meal. And after all in a week or two we are free to go home and finish our adventure. For migrants, adventure is the daily reality of survival.


“It is less easily represented on a map (perhaps because maps as such are so essentially associated with the figure of boundaries and borders), but it can be `projected’ onto maps, at least in an allegoric manner. For this reason, the global network also embodies the idea of a limit of traditional representations of political spaces, the reaching of a historical point where the political space becomes hardly representable, because its structures are constantly changing, a point where `territorialization’ would become a mere transitory aspect of a more basic process of `deterritorialization’, and not the reverse. This can be also associated with the idea of a primacy of circulation processes (`flows’ of humans, commodities and capitals, `ideas’, information, cultural patterns, etc) over all processes that are fixed and local, based on the occupation and use of territories-be they material (production, consumption), or institutional (administra- tion, education, or the exercise of power in general). Such a notion does not necessarily deprive boundaries of every meaning, but it relativizes their function, detaches them from the idea of sovereignty (or this idea becomes also relativized, since it was precisely associated with stable borders). It makes them, as it were, a `transitional object’, and an object of permanent transgression. This is where, in particular, the representations of diasporic and nomadic subjects start competing with each other and with the representation of rooted, embedded subjects, and potentially replace the latter.”‍
Etienne Balibar in Europe as borderland 2019, about the 'global network pattern'‍

See full screen

28. 11. 2021.

Starting from Zagreb via the highway to the Bosiljevo Exit to Fratrovci village. In the village of Fratrovci, right next to the river Kupa that is a border between Croatia and Slovenia, we met father and son. Both retired. Dad was a truck driver, and the is on a disability pension. And a lot of dogs. They would not like to be interviewed but are happy to talk about the experience and rumors related to fences and migrants.
‍
the gentleman says: it used to be better when there was no border, during Yugoslavia. And when it comes to migrants, these Muslims are lazy. the only thing they do is give birth to 6 children and they won't work. They come politically, not economically, like Serbs, Croats, Bosnians in the 1970s. They are as lazy as the Shiptars. It will be the Muslim faith everywhere, you will see. We need to look to the future.
‍
Another says: Last Thursday, there were 70 migrants who went to swim in the Kupa a little north of here in order to cross the border, and the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service from Karlovac had to rescue them. Half of them passed who must have known how to swim, and half did not. But that was not in the media. It goes under the radar. That's what the cop told us

‍Next - the village of Rome and a drink in restaurant Rome. The waitress is from Rijeka. She only comes on weekends and she doesn't know anything. The locals at Miki Mous fast food in Severin na Kupi know more. She heard them say that animals get entangled.
‍
Severin na Kupi, fast food Miki Maus The waitress is even less willing to talk. She doesn't know anything. The border is in Vinica. She didn't even understand that we were talking about a physical boundary. To her, the Border is synonymous with the border crossing. Nor is she going to the Kupa River for swimming which is a common summer activity in the area.There is the ruin of the Severin na Kupi Castle on a hill from where we look at Slovenia and the river. we can not access river from there.
‍
On the way to Lukovdol we meet 2 brothers. They didn't want to be recorded. One has a construction company and is in the program of integration of migrants, they work for him. He has a positive opinion and experience with migrants. The other brother lives on the edge of existence and is not in favor of state supporting migrants economically. He said: I guess the inhabitants of the state, born here, should have an advantage which is not the case. But when he met them, he gave them food and helped them.
‍
Vrbovsko, restaurant Kamačnik - at the confluence of the river Kamačnik and the river Dobra. Lunch / dinner and we found accommodation. Mountain lodge Kamačnik in Vujnovići.


29. 11. 2021.

Vujnovići. woke up at the mountain lodge and it is snowing, went to the restaurant to return the key and ate breakfast. The guys having a marenda (lunch) working at the power plant weren’t for the interview, the waitress wasn’t either and the owner would have been but didn’t have the time.
‍
Zaumol.Man in front of the house does not want to give an interview.
Plemenitaš. We are filming the landscape. Interview with Grandma Rose.
Zapeć.Filmed the landscape along the Kupa river.
‍
Border crossing Bela Krajina, village Kot - filmed the fence
the village of Prelesje.Filmed a fence that goes around the property for tourists. We met the same way of setting up the fence in 2017 near the village of Stari Pod, camp Jankovič. The owner of the camp, Tončka explained the reason and the way the fence was set up in an interview.
‍
Dol, Camp Konda. Recorded sound, photos and videos of the fence.
There is no more fence near the village of Grgelja.
Zavrtek beach the fence is back.
‍
At Slavski Laz, the road goes away of the border, so we don't see if there are fences or not. When we get closser back to the border there are fences. It even collapses slightly on some places.
‍
Fara - Brod na Kupi - border crossing
‍
Night is already falling. We go across the Brod na Kupi border and go find a place to eat. We find an open restaurant in Fužine and accommodation also.


30. 11. 2021.

Fužine, HR;Waking up, coffee, breakfast, work in a cafe, movement around 11am.
Belo selo, HR; Slavica, HR; Sopac, HR;
‍
Delnice, HR;
We work in a flyer cafe, printing and cutting flyers with a project explanation and web address. We go to lunch and head back to the border.
We stopped to record the landscape, the snow and the atmosphere. We take photos, audio and video recordings before the village of Marija Trošt and above the village of Gornji Turni in the forest.
‍
Marija Trošt, HR; Tihovo Intersection, HR; Gornje Tihovo, HR; Donje Tihovo, HR; Mala Lesnica, HR; Krivac, HR;
‍
Near Brod na Kupi, HR; at the border crossing we turn towards Čabar. The road goes on both sides of the border which is the river Kupa all the way behind the village Hrvatsko.
‍
Zapolje Brodsko, HR;
‍
Gusti Laz, HR;
At the beach we record the pressure with a drone.
‍
Guce selo, HR; Grbajel, HR; Kuželj HR;
‍
Gašparci, HR;
There is a bridge crossed by the local border, a closed crossing in SLO (Mirtovići). A door with spikes was installed, a razor wire and traffic was suspended. This was, as a policeman in Čabar told us, the only crossing and road in the area because the road on the Croatian side was built only 2 years ago. We photograph and film the bridge.
Night begins to fall, accommodation arrangements, we book through booking.com sleeping - mountain lodge in Travna Gora, SLO;
‍
Turke, HR;
‍
Gornji Lozac, HR;
Photo portrait, audio interview with an artist who welds iron sculptures next to his house by the road.
‍
Croatia, HR; Zamost, HR; Plešce, HR - wanted to drink coffee in the bar and restaurant Pr Lipe but did not let the dog; Mandli, HR;
‍
Čabar, HR; We stop at the gas station at the local border crossing towards Podplanina and / or Trava, SLO. The policeman in the gas station jokingly inquired about us, asked us to open the bunker because we have German license plates and we speak Croatian. From that meeting we learn information about migrants and which dog was bought by a police officer's wife... A policeman talks about migrants renting a car and putting a lot of them together. Migrants are trying to cross. if in one place they fail they go on and try.

Tropeti, HR; Parg, HR; Goraci, HR; Kozji vrh, HR;
‍
Border crossing: Prezid, HR >>> Babno Polje, SLO;
‍
Podgora pri Ložu, SLO; Pudob, SLO; Stari Trg pri Ložu, SLO; Markovec, SLO; Loški Potok Hill, SLO;
‍
Travna Gora, SLO;
Accommodation in the best smart hut in space, because the mountain lodge is not heated and it is not worth it to heat them, so they gave us to use more expensive accommodation.


01. 12. 2021.

Day off. Working on computers. Processing gathered material.

02. 12. 2021.

at 10 am we left Travna Gora for the village of Sodražica in the bakery Ajdič for breakfast and towards Babno polje. We turn in front of the border for Županov Laz - a part of the partisan hospital. It's raining.We follow a small road barely passable along the border. Lots of mud and tractors pulling wood.To the border - no fence. Just a ramp.
‍
Gozdarska Koča Vavkovec - we meet the Slovenian police - we film them.
We find a fallen tree and remove it.
‍
We come across a partisan monument - the wing of an airplane on the border line.
Well the chapel and the ramp, all on the border line. We film and photograph everything.
‍
Then on the way to the plateau with bunkers near Čabarska polica, and follow the road where we meet a woman - she does not want to be interviewed, who feeds horses and forest animals, she is a Slovenian ranger and tells us to go freely to Croatia because there are no controls, borders, fences , nothing… - Gumance Plateau
On the Gumance plateau we see abandoned military facilities and enter Croatia.

The village of Klana. Bar History. We are looking for accommodation and we find in Rupa - apartments Lago Rupa, we go there via Škalnica and Lipa and we go to Rupa to eat in the restaurant Carpe Diem.Rupa. Mr. Josip Laginja, the owner of the apartment where we are staying, gives us an interview at the Carpe Diem restaurant.

03. 12. 2021.

We wake up in Rupa, go for breakfast and for interviews at Carpe Diem restaurant.
The waitress gives us an interview.
‍
And a forest worker who works for a private company in the border area.He pulls wood out of the forest and has a lot of experience with migrants - he gives an interview.
‍
We cross the border Rupa - Jelšane border crossing. Immediately after the border we turn and go towards the border line. We find a check for animal hanting and a gold foil for warming up (safety cover for survival) from the first aid kit, there is no sign that there is a border, and there is no fence. On the way out, we meet the Slovinian army. They ask us if we are lost? I answered that we are not and asked them if they would give us an interview. They do not agree to the interview but are pleasant and with good humor.
‍
Veliko brdo. We meet the same soldiers again. Joke that we go for a drink for the 3rd time and ask where those fences are. At Veliki Brdo, there are some near someone's agricultural land. The razor wire is stretched. We also shoot by drone.
We reach the Pasjak Border Crossing but do not cross it and continue on the Slovenian side. We encounter roads that don’t actually have an open traffic.We decide to go to the Piran Bay because we are here in a mountainous area without access roads. We go across Kozina. In the Koper we buy burek and go to the Sočevje crossing where is the disputed part of the border between Slo and Hr - Piran Bay.We are filming on the road to Portorož and in the parking lot of the Sečovlje Salina Landscape Park.
‍
We cross into HR at the border crossing Sečovlje - Plovanija and go to a friend Nicola in Rovinjsko selo to sleep.


"If at some point something should come out of it, look at the website, we are everywhere on the road along the border doing interviews. In the same way, because really everyone has something to say about these border situations. And it is also not only about where and how it went. It started with the fences..."
‍
"Yes, we have never had that here, because there are very few refugees here, they already came.  You can see that when someone is lying down or something. But that is very difficult, because here there is water to be crossed and Slovenia has a radar with thermo system at the very end of the peninsula.  And they are there immediately when someone comes. And we also have that on this mountain, we also have control, just like the Italians and the Germans, when they were here.  And now we have the police for the refugees who come at night. And we see everything..."

04. 12. 2021.

We return to Sočevlje. First we go in the direction of Savudrija and turn to Crveni Vrh. We filmed the border bay by drone on the beach. Then we go to the crossing and before the crossing we turn to the disputed area between slo and hr. There we meet a retired Slovenian who has lived his working life in Germany. He gives us an interview in German.
‍
We are going to the next Buje Kastel (HR) - Dragonja (SLO) border crossing. There is a panel fence and a razor wire on top. We cross into SLO and follow the road along the border towards Brič. We quickly descend to the Dragonja River which is the border. We find a place for the fisherman and an inscription to go at your own risk. There is no wire or guard. On the Croatian side, it is a hill and seems impassable.
‍
We go further, cross the Stone Bridge on Dragonja and go to Brič. It is a private estate of wineries and vineyards and the road is not open. Ramp, razor wire on the floor. There is nobody.
‍
Continue to the crossing towards Oprtalj. - Župančiči, Marezige, Sveti Anton, Butari, Brezovica pri Gradinu, Border crossing for ob. Traffic >>> HR, Oprtalj, Motovun, Rovinjsko selo pizza party. We talk about the fence and migrants with people who live in Istria and there are a lot of foreigners.




05. 12. 2021.

From Rovinj village we go to Roč, Caffe Roč, coffee. We go to the border crossing Rakitovec which was mentioned to us by a waitress from Carpe Diem in Rupa. It's foggy, we're shooting in the fog, videos and photos, we find discarded documents from the whole family of migrants from Afghanistan. This is where the road enters Slovenia and exits again. A fence panel and razor wire are placed on both sides of the road, like a tunnel.

We continue to the place Jelovice / Lanišće, we come to the Podgorje Border Crossing, where we turn in front of the police officers who ran out of the houses in panic. We stop for lunch in Jelovice, restaurant Lovac. Return to Zagreb via Mali and Veliki Mun and the last location towards the border, crossing in the woods with a panel fence and razor wire and closed metal doors, with video surveillance signs on the fences. For the highway Žejane, Zvoneće, Permani, Vrata Jadrana, Zagreb.

"Protecting our borders is an essential condition, both to ensure the security of Europeans, to meet the challenge of migration and avoid the tragedies we have experienced," explained the French president.
‍
He referred to the shipwreck of migrants that killed at least 27 people in the English Channel at the end of November and the crisis on the border between Poland and Belarus, where Europe is facing a "hybrid war.
‍
To prevent the right to asylum from being "misused" in Europe, "we will initiate under this presidency a reform of the Schengen area," he said.
‍
He called for the "establishment of a political steering of Schengen" through regular meetings of European ministers in charge of these issues, in order to "strengthen border controls" when deemed necessary.
‍
Emmanuel Macron also intends to promote during the French presidency of the EU Council, which begins on January 1, the creation of emergency support mechanisms in case of a crisis at the border of a member state.
‍
This country "must be able to count on the support of Frontex," the European border and coast guard agency, "but also on the solidarity of the Member States in terms of police and gendarmes," he said.
‍
The French president also hopes to "move forward" during this six-month rotating presidency of the European Union in discussions on the Pact on Migration and Asylum, presented in September 2020 by the European Commission and whose adoption has since stumbled over deep divisions between the 27.
‍
He hopes to achieve a "better organization in terms of migration management", with "the will to work with countries of origin and transit countries to fight against trafficking, to avoid these flows, to protect our external borders, to harmonize our rules, especially in terms of asylum".‍
Emmanuel Macron pleaded Thursday for a Europe that "knows how to protect its borders" in the face of migratory crises, outlining a series of reforms including that of the Schengen area, during a press conference on the French presidency of the EU.‍

10. 12. 2021.

We leave Zagreb late for Križnica.Crossroads - lunch at the Rengel Fishing Cellar. The owner gives us an interview. We rush to catch the back scaffolding so we can go back. Sleeping in Virje.

11. 12. 2021.

We go to Fernandovac and the parts where the border follows the old course of the river Drava. There is no fence. Only stone markers and scarecrows for animals.

At the next location we come across fishing stations and the fast Drava.

We go to the area of the Čambina reserve. At one private house, right next to the border and the Drava, there is no fence, a little further closer to the village of Ždali there are fences and a razor wire on the floor. Departure to Botovo for lunch and then to Zagreb.