Accession to the Schengen area is a priority for Bulgaria and Croatia

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic thanked for Bulgaria of support for Croatia's membership in the EU and NATO. This became clear at a meeting between Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev who is paying an official visit to Croatia and President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, the press secretariat of the head of state announced.

Accession to the Schengen area is a priority for Bulgaria and Croatia, the two countries will join efforts to achieve this goal. President Plevneliev said that in 2010 the error was made to politicize the entry of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen. The head of state pointed out that this temporary problem will soon be solved, since the accession criteria are purely technical, the two countries have met them a long time and this has been repeatedly recognized by both the European Parliament and the European Commission.

According to the president at the time our country protects its borders and implements its obligations. The two presidents agreed that increased migratory pressure at the external borders of the EU requires European solidarity and burden-sharing between EU member states.

According to the two presidents 'unlocking' economic potential in South East Europe and attract more investments can be done only through the joint efforts of all countries in the region. Lack of good transport and energy connectivity is a major obstacle to speed up economic development in the Balkans.

The Bulgarian president called for joint efforts and regional approach to modern transport and energy infrastructure. According to President Plevneliev construction of the European Energy Union should start from the Balkans.