December 8, 2022 - The key participants in today's EU Council meeting, where a decision was made on the expansion of the Schengen zone without borders, confirmed upon entering the meeting that they were sure that the decision on Croatia's entry would be adopted, regardless of the fact that the diplomatic battles over the second decision, regarding the expansion of Schengen to Bulgaria and Romania. 

As Večernji wrote during the meeting, their correspondent from Brussels, Tomislav Krasnec, reported with the latest information, saying that the meeting is still ongoing, and discussions were also being held in the corridors. The cases of Bulgaria and Romania were apparently the source debate when it looked like some complications have arisen. It seems that some countries tried to treat this issue as a package of three countries, and not as two separate decisions, and advocated that it be put to a vote as a package today. That would not have been a favourable situation for Croatia, which would have ended up a victim of such a political approach.

Not long after, 24Sata reported that today, at the meeting of the interior ministers of the EU member states, Croatia received unanimous support for entering the Schengen area, while there was no consensus for Bulgaria and Romania, according to diplomatic sources.

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

Bulgaria and Romania apparently did not receive support because there was a lack of consensus.

Plenković: Citizens and the economy will benefit the most

Hrvatska je dobila jednoglasnu podršku Vijeća za unutarnje poslove i pravosuđe - 1. siječnja 2023. postajemo članica #Schengen! U godini isporuke ostvarili smo strateške ciljeve @VladaRH, od kojih će najveću korist imati ?? građani i gospodarstvo!
✅ #Eurozone
✅ #Schengen pic.twitter.com/mPCGMpGZ1E

— Andrej Plenković (@AndrejPlenkovic) December 8, 2022

"Croatia received the unanimous support of the Council for Internal Affairs and Justice - on January 1, 2023, we will become a member of Schengen! In the year of delivery, we achieved the Government's strategic goals, from which citizens and the economy will benefit the most!" - Plenković wrote on Twitter after the official announcement that Croatia is becoming a Schengen member.

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