With Croatia's admission to the Schengen area on 1 January, the barriers were also removed from the Goričan/Letenye border crossing, which is one of the 73 border crossings on the land border where the barriers are being removed.
At the ceremony, held just after the Saturday midnight, Croatia's Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said that "this is a historic event for Croatia".
Croatia's admission to the passport-free travel area will facilitate a smooth transport of passengers and cargo, the minister said.
He underscored the security component of this membership and Croatia's responsibility for managing the 1,300-kilometre-long external border of the European Union.
Croatia has accomplished almost all its strategic goals with its admission to the Schengen Area and the euro area on the first day of 2023, the minister recalled.
He added that Croatia is now continuing its journey towards the membership of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The ceremony at the border crossing brought together a Hungarian parliamentarian, Péter Cseresnyés, who used to be the mayor of Nagykanizs, a Hungarian city near this border crossing, as well as some other local politicians, diplomats and representatives of the ethnic Croats from Hungary.
Text: Hina
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