The newly elected president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said during a meeting in Croatia with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, that the country needs the support of all EU member countries, in order to join the Schengen Area.

According to a press release of the Croatian government, Von der Leyen said that she fully supports Croatia’s accession to the Schengen Area but she also pointed out that the consent of all EU members is required for such a thing to happen.

“During the meeting in Government House there was talk of Croatia entering the Schengen Area and the Eurozone. Von der Leyen underscored that she values the huge efforts Croatia has made in that regard and emphasized that she is on Croatia’s side on that journey. However, she recalled that membership to the Schengen Area also requires the consent of all EU member states,” the press release reads.

During the meeting, Von der Leyen asserted that Croatia is a success story of the European Union and a role model for other countries attempting to get EU membership.

“The fact that at the start of next year you will be the presidency shows that Croatia is a tremendous success story of the European Union and that it is a role model for other countries,” von der Leyen said.

Such statements come just a few days after a Croatian online newspaper announced that diplomatic sources have confirmed the EU Commission will most likely issue an official statement in the second half of September, giving the green light to Croatia to join the Schengen area, “as it has met all technical criteria for accession to the Schengen Area.”

Recently, the Croatian officials have intensified their requests for the rest of the EU countries to back Croatia to join the Schengen area, while at the same time many EU officials have shown their support, including the President of the European Union Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.

Croatia is the last member country that joined the EU in 2013. It is one of the four EU countries that still haven’t joined the Schengen territory, alongside Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus, aside from the UK and Ireland that opted-out.