Zagreb - Stability in Croatia's neighbourhood is important for an effective response to a possible migrant wave, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Tuesday.
"The issue of migration is one of the key security issues of our two countries," Jandroković told reporters after a meeting with Wolfgang Sobotka, President of the Austrian National Council.
Sobotka and Jandroković talked in Vienna on the margins of the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
"It is very important to cooperate, to exchange information. It is very important to us that the countries in our neighbourhood are stable," Jandroković added.
He said that the processes under way in Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia were not exactly contributing to the stabilisation of the region or to the countries joining the European Union in the near future.
"It is in our interest that our neighbourhood is stable, especially since we don't know what awaits us with regard to the migrant crisis. It is very important that all countries on that potential migrant wave be focused on border protection," Jandroković said.
The Parliament Speaker said that Croatian-Austrian relations were "traditionally good and friendly", underscoring that Austria is the largest investor in Croatia and one of its most important trade partners.
"Austria's support in terms of the Schengen area, the euro and the membership of the OECD is extremely important to us," Jandroković said.