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Foreign ministers of Slovenia, Austria, and Croatia on EU enlargement and Schengen

by AI | 29.Nov 2024 | Europe in brief AI

At a meeting in Ljubljana, the foreign ministers of Slovenia, Austria, and Croatia emphasized the importance of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, and they also discussed Schengen and cooperation in combating illegal migration.

Slovenia, Austria, and Croatia's foreign ministers at a discussion on EU challenges at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences. Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA

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Ljubljana – Slovenia was visited on Thursday by the foreign ministers of Austria and Croatia, Alexander Schallenberg and Gordan Grlić-Radman. After talks with the foreign minister Tanja Fajon, they emphasized the urgency of speeding up EU enlargement, especially in the Western Balkans. They also called for the restoration of Schengen, although they agreed that current security conditions do not allow this, and stressed the importance of cooperation in the fight against illegal migration.

The ministers believe that EU enlargement, especially to the Western Balkans, could strengthen Europe’s security and unity. As emphasized in the discussion at the Faculty of Social Sciences, also with the implementation of appropriate reforms. “Today, we need each other more than ever, as we face many geopolitical challenges that no country in Europe can tackle alone. With the enlargement, our continent will become stronger,” Fajon is convinced.

At the press conference following the official trilateral meeting, Fajon stressed: “Slovenia is a proponent of a functioning Schengen area, but the current security conditions do not allow us to lift controls at internal borders.” “Restoring Schengen is certainly what we all want to see. Now we are in a situation where security conditions do not allow this, but I must say nevertheless that our competent authorities also cooperate very well in protecting the external Schengen, the Croatian border,” she said.

Meanwhile, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg was again critical of Schengen. “If we look at the state of the Schengen area, we see that many countries have introduced internal border controls. This means that the system is not currently working as it should,” he said. As one of the solutions for this, he highlighted the migration pact and advocated for its implementation.

Croatian Minister Gordan Grlić-Radman is also convinced that the migration crisis requires joint action. “The fight against illegal migration requires joint efforts and the strengthening of those capacities that will actually ensure better control over migration flows,” he added. (28 November)

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