Immigration: Merkel in Croatia: I Am Committed to Preserving Schengen Area

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Germany has not yet discussed Croatia’s Schengen membership, however, German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised she would draw attention to Croatia’s effort to join the border-less zone.

Merkel said so during a joint conference with the Prime Minister of Croatia Andrea Plenkovic upon a meeting held together after she arrived in Zagreb for the XXVI Congress of the European People’s Party.

During the conference, Chancellor Merkel also commented on the recent accusations towards Croatia on the way it treats migrants reaching the country through Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The challenges are big, we have experience with refugees and migrants, but the perspective of a country that protects its external borders is different than that of a country in the middle of Schengen. That is why I am in favor of preserving Schengen,” Merkel said adding that Croatia could bring its experiences into Schengen due to its fresh memory on membership negotiations.

According to Merkel, though Germany hasn’t discussed its stance on Croatia’s Schengen membership, the issue would be on the agenda of Germany’s EU Chairmanship in the second half of 2020.

Prime Minister Plenkovic also said that he too was aware it is not realistic to expect that Croatia would become a full Schengen Member during the Croatian EU Presidency throughout the first half of next year.

“This, however, does not mean that at the operational level of working groups the Commission’s report will not be discussed… Upon its presidency, Croatia will do its best to assure its European partners that it deserves to be part of the Schengen area,” he said pointing out that Bulgaria and Romania have been waiting to join Schengen for years now, though both have met the technical criteria long ago.

The European Commission asserted that Croatia has met the conditions and standards to join the border-free Schengen area, on October 22 this year.

The decision of the European Commission sparked criticisms among many, including several Croatian organizations and initiatives working with the victims of border violence, which called for Croatia to be kept out of the Schengen area until its government stops the illegal and violent pushback of migrants.

These organizations demanded from the EU to make Croatia’s Schengen membership conditional, and let the country out of the borderless zone unless it improves its asylum practices.

Later on, the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch also criticized EC support for Croatia’s Schengen membership, releasing a video about Croatia’s violent pushback migrant at the borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It features interviews with victims and credible secretly recorded footage of Croatian police escorting groups of migrants across the border to BiH without following regular procedures.

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