Croatian Minister of the Interior, Davor Bozinovic, held meetings with his Italian and Turkish counterparts, Luciana Lamorgese and Suleyman Soylu respectively, during his stay in Rome on Thursday.

The talks between the Croatian and Italian ministers focused on the developments caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the protection of the European Union’s external borders, migrations and successful police cooperation as well on the importance of the fight against smugglers and traffickers.

The two officials arranged a reciprocal visit of Lamorgese to Croatia.

Addressing the press after the talks with Lamorgese, Bozinovic said that Italy supported Croatia’s Schengen Area membership aspirations, as it appreciated that Zagreb’s contribution to the protection of the EU external borders. It is also important to enable Croatia to have full access to all the EU information systems, he explained.

Croatia also thanks Italy for its humanitarian assistance sent to the Croatian earthquake-hit areas.

Bozinovic thanked his Turkish counterpart also for humanitarian aid sent in the aftermath of the 2020 devastating quakes in Croatia.

Bozinovic and Soylu discussed migrations, security, and the sectors in which Croatia and Turkey could reinforce their cooperation.

Cooperation with the Turkish law enforcement authorities and civil protection is important for efforts to improve the migrations management and to respond to climate change, the Croatian minister said. “Turkey is an important partner of Croatia and the European Union, it provides Afghanistan and neighbouring countries with significant humanitarian aid and thus contributes to lessening the migration pressure towards Europe,” said Bozinovic.

We are closely following the developments in Afghanistan and the role of Turkey is crucial for efforts to lessen the migration pressure on Europe, particularly on the eastern Mediterranean route that passes through Croatia, he added.