- Published: 04.11.2014.
Croatia to be ready for Schengen on 1 July 2015, interior minister says
Croatia is procuring state-of-the-art equipment for the protection of European Union borders and is expected to be ready for the Schengen Area by 1 July 2015, Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said on Thursday, according to a government press release.
Speaking after a meeting of the committee on the coordination and monitoring of the Schengen instrument, Ostojic said Schengen Area states decided when Croatian would join, but that Croatia had the obligation to spend Schengen Facility funds in the best way possible and be ready and apply for entering the zone by July 1, 2015.
After joining the EU on 1 July 2013, entering the Schengen Area is one of the government's strategic foreign policy priorities.
Ostojic briefed the committee and Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic about the implementation of the Schengen Action Plan and the absorption of Schengen Facility funds, focusing on the procurement of border control technical equipment.
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