President Milanović: Statements from Austria cause worries, I will talk with the Austrian Chancellor and advocate entry into Schengen
“I hear statements from Austria that worry me. I think this is a reckoning at our expense between some other European Union members, while Austria has joined the dispute for some internal reasons that are visible yet unclear to me. All things considered, this is not good. On Wednesday, the Austrian Chancellor is coming to Zagreb to visit (Prime Minister) Plenković who said that everything was resolved, but it seems that it was not. I hope it will be resolved. I will advocate entry into Schengen when I talk with the Austrian Chancellor,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović said in a press statement on Monday in Varaždin, commenting on the position of the Austrian Minister of the Interior that now is not the time for new members to join the Schengen Area.
The President of the Republic believes that Croatia had fulfilled all technical requirements to join Schengen back in 2016. “We could have already become a member of Schengen since then. Everything else is politics. Our government is trying. So far it has not succeeded, I hope it will succeed,” he added. President Milanović is of the opinion that such decisions are not made because of lobbying efforts, as government officials claim.
“There is no lobbying when you are a state. Politics, positions and programmes come first. Lobbying is a murky but regulated activity. Croatia is not lobbying. Croatia is advocating. Croatia is fighting. We are not a lobbying organization. We are the Republic of Croatia, a member of the EU and NATO. If something is important to us, then it is to be said ‘this cannot go on’,” President Milanović explained his view, adding that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the best example of the fact that lobbying cannot achieve results. “When I hear that the High Representative was lobbied for something, as a Croat I feel sad. There is no lobbying. There is a proposal, followed by a request,” he concluded.