ZAGREB, October 26, 2019 – Addressing a meeting of his party’s main committee in Zagreb on Saturday, Social Democrat (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić said that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was an obstacle for Croatia’s admission to the Schengen passport-free area, and added that this opposition party would start forming a large anti-corruption alliance.
“A detailed, complex and comprehensive report made by the European Commission on a state of affairs in Croatia reads that a crucial condition for Croatia’s entry into the Schengen Area is the fight for the widespread corruption in our country,” Bernardić said adding that a half of the Plenković cabinet had had to step down due to suspected corruption.
The opposition leader said that the strengthening of independent institutions, including the National Conflict of Interest Commission, was also a prerequisite for Croatia’s Schengen bid.
In this context Bernardić accused Plenković of exerting pressure on that commission, claiming that therefore this was an obstacle for Croatia’s admission to the Schengen Area. He reiterated criticism over the fact that the parliament’s Grand Chamber would be rented to the European People’s Party (EPP) for a meeting if its political assembly on 19 November.
Bernardić said that it is the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) “that is leasing the whole of Croatia and destroying it.”
This past Tuesday the European Commission assessed that Croatia met the conditions for joining the Schengen Area and asked the Council of the EU to include Croatia in the area without internal border controls.
“The European Commission considers that, based on the results of the Schengen evaluation process initiated in 2016, Croatia has taken the measures needed to ensure that the necessary conditions for the full application of the Schengen rules and standards are met,” a press release said.
“Croatia will need to continue working on the implementation of all ongoing actions, in particular its management of the external borders, to ensure that these conditions continue to be met. The Commission also today confirms that Croatia continues to fulfil the commitments, linked to the Schengen rules, that it undertook in the accession negotiations,” reads the press release issued by the EC.
The Commission’s evaluation on technical preparedness is not enough for joining but it is a prerequisite for the member states to make a political decision on the accession.
More SDP news can be found in the Politics section.
