Croatia's entry to the Schengen area of passport-free travel was marked on Sunday at the Dubosevica border crossing point on the Croatian-Hungarian border in Baranja, with Croatian and Hungarian officials in attendance.

The event was attended by officials of Osijek-Baranja County and the Hungarian county of Baranya, the mayors of Osijek and Pecs, and representatives of the Croatian and Hungarian consulates in Hungary and Croatia.

Croatia’s Consul-General in Hungary, Drago Horvat, said that Croatia today completed the process of accession to the Eurozone and Schengen area, making major progress in its integration with the European Union.

Congratulating Croatia on its entry to the Schengen area, Hungary’s Consul-General in Osijek, Zoltan Császár, said that it would facilitate not only the movement of hundreds of thousands of people travelling through the area but also benefit citizens on both sides of the border, as well as both countries’ economic development.

Osijek-Baranja County head Ivan Anusic recalled that there are three border crossing points with the EU in the county and that they will now be much more accessible to citizens on both sides of the border, facilitating the movement of goods and the two countries’ economic development.

In the past 32 years Croatia has fully integrated with the EU, which is a historic achievement for which most credit goes to Croatian defenders and the 18,000 people who gave their lives for the independence of Croatia, now fully integrated with the EU, said Anusic.

Baranya County head  László Őri said that now that Croatia had joined Schengen he wanted new infrastructure projects to be launched in the interest of both countries’ citizens, including work on the construction of the international 5C road corridor, which he said was going well both on the Croatian and the Hungarian side.