"I hope that Romania and Croatia will enter the Schengen area on January 1, 2023"

Croatia and Romania are quite similar politically and nationally, according to the president of the Croatian Parliament, Gordan Jandrokovic.

In the speech delivered in the legislature in Bucharest, the dignitary emphasized that both countries aim for full integration in the European Union, by joining the Schengen free movement area and obtaining the status of member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Gordan Jandrokovic: Croatia is fully prepared to join Schengen, the latest European Commission report confirms that Romania is ready as well. I hope that Croatia and Romania will enter on January 1 of the following year. When it comes to our other goal, which is to become new OECD members, we are diligently working on the next steps of the accession process. We are confident that Romania will do the same.

Producer: The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, said that the two states support each other, both at European level and bilaterally.

Marcel Ciolacu: It is important to ensure a fast and sustainable process of recovery of the European economies. For Romania, this process is all the more important, since we want to return as quickly as possible to a sustained rate of recovery of development gaps compared to the European Union average, and this is possible with the entry of our states into the Schengen area. Our citizens should not bear the indirect cost of this delay.

Producer: The President of the Croatian Parliament, Gordan Jandrokovic, also met today with the interim President of the Senate, Alina Gorghiu.

Translated by: Radu Matei