The Czech Republic will strive to ensure that, during its presidency, the EU grants Croatia entry into the Schengen Area, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday after meeting with his Croatian counterpart in Prague.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said his country wants to enter the EU’s borderless zone in January 2023.

This might be possible, Fiala told the Czech News Agency that he also feels significant support among EU leaders for Croatia’s accession to the Schengen Area from speaking to them at informal meetings.

The two leaders also talked about the Czech EU presidency, which just started last week. The prime ministers spoke in particular about the European integration of the Western Balkan countries and the main objectives set by the presidency in this area.

“We would like to move forward on the integration of the Western Balkans, including Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Fiala said.

A few weeks ago at the EU summit the troubled country received little hope from the EU member states’ leaders. They have indicated their willingness to grant the country the EU candidate status.

As was confirmed beforehand by Fiala, Czechia does not want to stay in the way of the European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but at the same time is not “proactive” in this regard because of the complicated internal situation in this country.

The Czechs believe the EU should solve the situation surrounding North Macedonia and Albania first.