Minister Wants Joint Schengen Entry if Criteria Met
Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said on Friday that Slovenia supported the joint entry of all candidates to the Schengen no-border zone, however the countries needed to meet the criteria first. Mate, presenting the schedule for Schengen entry at the sidelines of a ministerial in Luxembourg, added that events were unravelling according to plan.
The time line of meetings by ministers of the nine Schengen aspirants envisages the first meeting in Poland in early May, the second at the end of July, the third in September and the fourth and final one in October, just prior to the final decision regarding the Schengen expansion, Mate said.
Such a schedule could prevent problems for the EU if any of the candidates failed to meet the criteria, as it was currently unclear whether the EU would decide to accept all candidates together or include them into the no-border zone on a case-by-case basis.
"Some countries were constantly mentioning package treatment, however Slovenia never favoured such treatment. We believe that every country needs to do its job, and Slovenia has definitely done it," Mate said.
He explained that a backup scenario, involving transitional periods similar to the ones between Austria, Germany and Italy in the 1990s, was also in the making and added that the Schengen expansion required consensus of all EU members, meaning that any country could prevent it.
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