Croatia Enters Schengen

Croatia joining the Schengen marked the first expansion of the area after ten years. The area now comprises 23 out of the 27 EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. As we know, The Schengen area started in 1985 between five member states -France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. It was named after a village in Luxembourg, where the Schengen Agreement and Convention were signed. As Croatia joined Euro and the Schengen zone, the European Union's (EU) passport-free travel area, the news was covered not only by European but also by some Asian portals.

For instance, SHINE, the largest English-language newspaper in East China, powered by Shanghai Daily, noted the event as an important milestone for Croatia. The Korea Times reports about the visit to Croatia from the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to celebrate the "immense achievements" and "a day for history books." This outlet also noted Croatia's new responsibility to safeguard the Schengen Area's boundary, particularly in the light of insecurity revolving around the war in Ukraine. The Korea Times also conveyed prime minister Andrej Plenkovic's emphasis on using EU integration experience to help neighbour countries Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro to achieve the same goal. The Times of India reports about a historic new year of the EU'sEU's youngest member as she joined the EU's border-free Schengen zone and the shared euro currency, fulfilling the long-term goal of European integration. Qatar-based Al Jazeera stressed that entering the Schengen borderless area will boost the Croatian tourism industry, which accounts for 20 per cent of its gross domestic product. The outlet also mentioned the main challenge of guarding the EU’s longest external land border at 1,350km in the face of immigration.