Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and her Slovenian and Austrian counterparts, Borut Pahor and Alexander van der Bellen respectively, attended a trilateral meeting held in Slovenia on Thursday, where they discussed European and regional issues, as well as the cooperation between the three countries.

Considering the recent security challenges, as well as other issues, the cooperation between Slovenia, Croatia, and Austria is all the more important because it helps improve mutual cooperation and trust, said the host of the meeting, Slovenian president Borut Pahor, at a press conference following the meeting.

He added that it was important to discuss issues the countries disagreed on, such as the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, or views on migration and border control within the Schengen Area in relations between Austria and Slovenia.

“It’s important that we talk and keep an open dialogue even when we disagree, especially today, when the international scene is less secure than it used to be,” Pahor said.

Pahor and van der Bellen spoke about the possibility of EU and countries in the Schengen Area closing their internal borders due to migration, and the chain effect that would follow.

If Austria introduces stricter border controls, Pahor said, Slovenia would have to do the same on its border with Croatia in order to avoid being overcome with migrants wishing to reach central and western Europe. This would cause a chain reaction further south, as Croatia would most likely do the same on its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that would cause instability and mistrust among the countries in the region.

It is necessary to insist on the control of EU’s external borders, but also to ensure control of the Schengen border, Austrian president van der Bellen said.

Croatia, a member state with the longest EU external border, has not joined the Schengen Area yet, although it is legally bound to eventually become part of Schengen.

Croatian police are enhancing their personnel and other capacities on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU’s external border, in preparations for accession to the Schengen Area, Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said.

Commenting on the Croatia-Slovenia border arbitration dispute, the president said that Croatia does not recognise the border arbitration ruling reached in 2017, having left the process, but that the two countries would discuss the border issue after Slovenia’s new government is formed.

She added that consultations will be held with Austria, which took over the EU chairmanship at the start of July, considering that Croatia would be chairing the EU in 2020.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.