Milanovic: Croatia to apply for Schengen membership in July

Croatia attaches great importance to the question of membership of the Schengen area and will apply for it at the start of July, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic announced after meeting his Estonian counterpart Taavi Roivas in Zagreb on Wednesday.

There are areas in which Estonia has earned an enviable reputation, such as electronics and the Internet, where Croatia too has made great progress in recent years, especially in the computerisation of the public sector, Milanovic said.

Estonia is the seat of the European agency for large-scale IT systems, which is responsible for managing the Schengen information system.

Milanovic said that bilateral relations between Croatia and Estonia were excellent despite the geographical distance, adding that he and Roivas discussed a lot of issues, including the Schengen area, refugees from Africa and relations with Russia.

Our bilateral relations are very positive and there is great potential in many sectors, such as tourism, Roivas said, expressing his satisfaction that there is a direct flight service between Estonia and Croatia.

Apart from tourism, Roivas said that there was also great potential in trade, especially in those sectors in which the geographical position does not play an important role, such as the digital market.

If Europe's digital market is liberalised, countries will be able to exchange services regardless of the borders, the Estonian prime minister said.

Roivas underscored the fact that Estonia and Croatia were strong allies in the European Union and NATO and said he was glad that the two countries had similar views.

(Hina) vm

News