Interior ministers of nine Schengen zone candidate countries agreed in Warsaw on Saturday that the preparations of the 2004 EU newcomers for entering the passport-free zone were going according to the plans, Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said.
Slovenia has successfully finished testing the "SIS I for All" Schengen Information System, said Mate, who does not expect any serious trouble or complications in the following phases.
Slovenia on principle met the Schengen criteria, however the last year evaluation of the Brnik airport showed that the airport is not in line with the Schengen regulations as it does not enable the separation of Schengen passengers and those coming from outside of this area.
The overhaul of the airport will be carried out in two phases, the minister explained. The first one, after which the airport will be in line with the regulations, is "practically over", he added.
A new evaluation to determine whether Slovenia meets the Schengen standards at the Brnik airport is expected to be carried out in the first week of July, he added.
The meeting of the ministers is the first of the four in which the ministers are to review the countries' Schengen preparations after each phase.
The meetings are to ensure that the preparations run smoothly, because one unprepared candidate can hinder the entire enlargement and open the issue of a joint accession of all candidates, which Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary support.
The documents on the Schengen zone enlargement adopted so far do not determine joint accession, Mate said.
The final decision on the enlargement, which is planned for 31 December this year, is to be known in November.
The "SIS I for All" project that would allow for the enlargement to begin already at the end of this year was initiated by Portugal because of the delays in the establishment of the SIS II system. The SIS II project is being prepared at the same time and according to the European Commission's plans it should be ready by the end of 2008, Mate said.
Mate also told STA today that in line with the Schengen regulations Slovenia would close 115 points on which it is possible to cross the border with Croatia, however it would not close any border crossings.
This will not affect anyone, as it is already illegal to cross the border on those points, he said, denying the media reports saying that Slovenia will close down border crossings.
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