Croatia and Romania’s accession to Schengen Area will strengthen EU

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman began an official visit to Romania on Monday by meeting with his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu. Later on Monday, he will participate in a meeting of the Munich leaders in Bucharest, and on Tuesday and Wednesday he is due to attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
 
The two ministers agreed that the enlargement of the Schengen Area was in the interest of the European Union and would help its security and protection against illegal migration. "Enlargement of the Schengen Area will help strengthen the external borders of the European Union against threats to the Union's internal security," Aurescu said after the meeting.
 
"It is in the EU's interest to strengthen the Schengen Area by including Croatia and Romania, which are ready to join and are part of the solution needed by the Union to manage the influx of migrants," he said. The two countries also hope to become members of the OECD.
 
Grlić Radman underscored the "excellent bilateral relations, without any outstanding issues," with an "enviable" and "excellent" degree of mutual protection of "our minorities" and an emphasis on the need to strengthen relations in the economy, tourism and trade.
 
He underlined that the two countries "are on the same side of history, on the right side of democracy in the fight for Ukraine's freedom from Russian aggression."
 
Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the European presence in that part of our continent so that third, not necessarily benevolent political factors would not increase their influence there, he said. "This must necessarily imply the acceptance of the European foreign and security policy of the membership candidate countries," Grlić Radman said.
 
At the time of the energy crisis, Croatia decided to strengthen its gas delivery capacity from the LNG terminal on Krk Island to 6.1 billion cubic metres "to ensure the energy independence of its neighbours" and other countries in Europe, Grlić Radman said. He reiterated that Croatia could be an "energy hub in this part of Europe."
 
In addition to meeting with his host, Grlić Radman will also meet with Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă and the Vice-President and Acting President of the Senate of the Parliament of Romania, Alina-Stefania Gorghia.
 
Text: Hina/MFEA
 

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