The expansion of the European Union to Southeast Europe will be one of Croatia’s priorities as it takes over the EU presidency in the first half of 2020, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic said in an interview with the Italian news agency Nova.

EU expansion to Southeast Europe is of strategic importance for the stability of the whole of the EU considering the new geopolitical relations, Jandrokovic said during his two-day official visit to Italy.

“Naturally, Croatia’s support will be based on a credible, clear, strict and fair accession procedure, which it went through itself,” he said.

Other topics Croatia will bring to the forefront during its presidency are continuing economic growth and employment, with emphasis on young people, consolidating EU’s internal and external security, as well as energy and transport connectivity, he added.

Croatia will take over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on January 1, 2020, and mark the event on January 15.

Brexit has affected the order of countries to chair the Council so Croatia’s turn comes sooner than planned, and Croatia will follow after Romania and Finland, who will be presiding the EU in 2019.

Talking about Croatia’s joining the Schengen passport-free travel area, Jandrokovic said that Croatia will very soon meet all criteria for accession, adding he expected a political decision to be made at EU level before the country takes over the presidency of the Council of the EU.

In September, Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic met with the EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, in Brussels After the meeting, he said that Croatia had received “strong support” from the European Commission for joining the Schengen area, adding that progress made in controlling the EU’s external border was of crucial importance.

Although Croatia had joined the European Union in July 2013, it is still not a member of the EU’s Schengen passport-free travel area. Its eastern borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro form the EU’s external border.

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