Estonia supports Croatia Schengen membership
Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas, on a working visit to Croatia, discussed with Prime Minister Zoran Milanović and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović the security, economy, migration pressure and the expansion of the European Union and NATO.
“Despite being geographically remote, relations between Croatia and Estonia are very good. The economic relations are developing, particularly in the tourism industry, but there is definitely still room for improvement,” Rõivas said, adding that Estonia is looking forward to Croatia joining the Schengen Area.
At the meetings with both Milanović and Grabar-Kitarović, there was a broad consensus that the migration crisis in the Mediterranean cannot be ignored and the burden of the member states under the migratory pressure has to be relieved. “Each member state has to contribute according to their capacity and in proportion to their size,” Rõivas said.
The topics discussed with President Grabar-Kitarović mainly involved security. “As two allies, Estonia and Croatia have a common understanding of the changed security situation,” the Estonian PM said in Zagreb. Rõivas and Grabar-Kitarović also expressed hope of seeing an increased defense cooperation, such as joint exercises.
Editor: S. Tambur