The Diplomat
The Secretary of State for the European Union, Juan González-Barba, yesterday held bilateral consultations with his Croatian counterpart, Andreja Metelko-Zgombić, to whom he reiterated Spain’s support for his country’s entry into the Schengen Area and the euro zone.
The meeting, which took place in Dubrovnik, came five days after the visit of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to Zagreb – the first official visit by a Spanish chief executive since Croatia’s independence – to meet with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, a few months ahead of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
During the bilateral meeting in Dubrovnik, the two Secretaries of State discussed matters of mutual interest concerning the European agenda and González-Barba reiterated the “firm Spanish support” for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans and Croatia’s accession to the Schengen Area and the Euro zone “in the near future”.
The Secretary of State then took part, together with the Vice-President of the European Commission, Dubravka Šuica, and Andreja Metelko-Zgombić in a citizens’ panel discussion entitled Preparing the way for tomorrow: global and regional engagement of the European Union, as part of the events related to the Conference on the Future of Europe. The Conference was to start precisely in Dubrovnik on May 9, 2020, but the pandemic prevented it.
Gonzalez-Barba also visited Slovakia to meet his counterpart, Martin Klus, and to take part in a debate on the strategic autonomy of the Union within the framework of the GLOBSEC-Tatras European Forum of Reflection, held on October 8 and 9.
