During his official state visit to Germany on Tuesday, the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković delivered a speech at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on the topic of ‘Croatia and the Future of the EU’. In his speech, the PM defended fundamental European values while presenting Croatian priorities for EU presidency in early 2020.
- The European Union must be able to fulfil the expectations of its citizens, it has to be more confident in the international arena, and it must continue to cherish the values it was founded on: human rights, freedom, democracy and the rule of law – said Plenković in his speech.
The Prime Minister presented Croatian priorities within the EU, emphasising the importance of Schengen and Eurozone membership. He said that Croatia should fulfil the conditions for entering the Schengen zone by the end of this year, hoping that the process could be completed by the time Croatia starts presiding over the Council of the EU.
Plenković mentioned the European elections that are going to be held in spring of the following year, stressing the danger of populist parties that are increasingly popular across the European Union.
- Stopping the rise of populism should be one of our main tasks because we have to prevent this negative trend from inflicting harm on the future of Europe – said Plenković.
Economic growth, fixing youth unemployment, regional development, security and future enlargement are some of the priorities that the Croatian presidency will be focused on.
After having met the German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier on Tuesday, Plenković’s official visit to Germany had ended with the meeting with the German Minister of Economy Peter Altmeier.