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Croatian, Austrian ministers discuss Schengen zone, migrant crisis

Xinhua, December 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Austria supports Croatia's accession to the Schengen passport-free zone, visiting Austrian interior minister Wolfgang Sobotka said on Monday.

Sobotka told reporters after meeting with his Croatian counterpart Vlaho Orepic that Austria fully supported Croatia on its path to the Schengen Area membership, adding Austria hoped Croatia would join the Schengen Area as soon as possible.

He said he viewed the issue as an important matter in cooperation between Austria and Croatia.

Orepic said both he and Sobotka were optimistic that Croatia would become part of this passport-free zone in 2018.

Regarding the migrant crisis, the two ministers said their respective countries were following common European security policy.

They were confident that European unity would provide an answer to "this challenging issue," Orepic said.

It was necessary to secure the European Union (EU)'s external border as far as the migrant crisis is concerned, Sobotka said. Endit