ZAGREB, April 13, 2018 – After meeting with the European Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King in Zagreb on Friday, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said that Croatia would meet the technical criteria to enter the Schengen Area by the end of the year.
Božinović discussed several security topics with King, including border surveillance and the implementation of the European directive on the use of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime.
Božinović expects that the motion in second reading, which was adopted by the government on Thursday, would be passed by parliament in a week or so. He assessed the directive as important in the joint fight against terrorism, organised crime, money laundering and access to substances for home-made explosive devices.
Joint efforts are important to establish and apply IT systems, Božinović said and added that the Schengen Information System has shown that it was justified to apply it in Croatia, which has recorded 168 million views over the past seven months with 8,000 ‘hits’ identifying vehicles and people that are interesting from a security aspect.
Croatia is known as a tourist destination and has nine international airports that need to be subjected to the directive, he said.
All this is sending a clear message that Croatia is on the right track to achieve a higher standard in protecting citizens and achieving the government’s strategic objectives, like entering the Schengen Area before the end of the year, Božinović said.
King, one of three European Commissioners on a visit to Croatia today, said that the directive was a concrete example of cooperation which brings security benefits for all interested parties. Passenger tracking enables strengthening the security aspect throughout the European Union, direct information exchange of passenger details, better prevention, detecting and investigating terrorism and other serious forms of crime, such as drug smuggling, people trafficking and sexual abuse of children.
I have seen that an excellent job has been done in implementing the directive, King said.
