Croatia will meet the technical criteria to enter the Schengen Area by the end of 2018, the Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic asserts. Minister Bozinovic made such claims after a meeting with the European Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King in Zagreb on Friday, April 13, alongside with two other European Commissioners.

The border surveillance and the implementation on the use of passenger name record data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offenses and serious crimes, was among the main topics discussed between both officials, which Minister Bozinovic assessed as very important in the joint fight against terrorism and organized crime. He also added that Croatia had done a good job in its implementation and that he expects the Croatian parliament to pass the European directive in the next two weeks.

Bozinovic told to the media during a press conference that Schengen Information System, which had been implemented in Croatia for no more than just the last months, had shown great results recording almost 170 million views and identifying around 8,000 suspicious vehicles and people.

Commissioner King also assessed that Croatia has done an excellent job in implementing the directive, which according to him is a concrete example of cooperation that brings security benefits for all interested parties.

One of the main goals of the former-Yugoslav country is to become part of the Schengen Area. Croatia is known as a tourist destination with a long coastline on the Adriatic Sea, more than a thousand of islands and its medieval sites.

Croatia, alongside Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania are the only European Union member states who are not members of the Schengen zone, but are rather considered as prospective members (aside of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland who opted out of joining this area).

Croatia was the last of the four to be admitted into the European Union in 2013. However, it was requested to conduct a technical evaluation which started on July 2015, in order to be able to join the Schengen Area. /Source: Total Croatia News