Merkel Supports Croatia’s Plans to Join Euro, Schengen Area

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Chancellor Angela Merkel backed Croatia’s plan to join the euro area and the Schengen passport-free travel zone, though she suggested neither is imminent.

“I regard Croatia’s two goals, namely joining the euro in the next period as well as joining Schengen, as very realistic,” Merkel told reporters in Zagreb at a news conference with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. “Of course that will still require work, but I think Croatia is on a positive path. Germany wants to be a good partner in the future.”

Merkel was in Zagreb to support the European People’s Party, the main center-right group running in next week’s European Parliament election. Her Christian Democratic Union and Plenkovic’s Hrvatska Demokratska Zajednica are members.

Joining the euro area will take time, Plenkovic said.

“That’s not tomorrow’s goal, it’s a project that will accompany the next term of the European Commission and the next term of the European Parliament and the first ambition is to fulfill the criteria for ERM-2,” he said. As part of the effort, the government plans to lower Croatia’s ratio of debt to economic output to 62% in 2022, Plenkovic said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Donahue in Zagreb at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net;Gordana Filipovic in Belgrade at gfilipovic@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka

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