Croatia becomes a member of the Schengen area

At the meeting of the ministers of the EU member states, Croatia received unanimous support for entering the Schengen area

On Thursday, the ministers of interior affairs of the 22 EU member states that are also members of the Schengen area made a final decision on the "full application of the Schengen acquis in the Republic of Croatia", which means that the border controls towards the Schengen area will be lifted.

Croatia thus becomes the 27th member of the Schengen area and in less than a month, from 1 January 2023, border controls will be lifted at land and sea border crossings, and in the spring, on 26 March 2023, at airports.

Croatia began its journey towards entering the Schengen area in 2015 and 2016 in the midst of a major migrant crisis, during which Croatia fulfilled 281 recommendations in eight areas of the Schengen acquis, of which 145 recommendations related only to the area of external border control.

The Schengen area is thus expanding for the first time in more than ten years.

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