President Milanović in Opatija: I will be attending the opening of Pelješac Bridge with great joy

“It is with great joy that I will be attending the opening of Pelješac Bridge in a few days,” President Zoran Milanović confirmed in Opatija, where he attended a special session of the Opatija Town Council held on the occasion of Municipal Day. In his address at the special session, the President spoke about the use of EU funds, reminding that Croatia annually absorbs some five billion kunas, which he said is not enough.

“Croatia annually reaps five billion kunas, which is little. Of those five billion, two go to agriculture, a social fund, and it is the best-planned money, there is no stealing there. The remaining three billion is what has been poured into our homeland from European funds in the past years. I guess that money has some effects, although unfortunately we don’t measure them. How they affect competitiveness, salary growth, employment – we don’t know. And that’s one and a half Pelješac Bridge per year,” explained President Milanović, announcing that he will be attending the opening of Pelješac Bridge, for the construction of which he also, as he put it, “gave a drop of his political blood.”

“I encourage you to deal with EU funds, to get the most out of them, whatever you can. Be ruthless when it comes to them. We entered the EU and we will soon enter Schengen if our friends from Slovenia realize that it is equally in their interest as in ours, but where is the money, what’s the use of that? It would be a disaster if we did not have some material benefits from a system that is huge and to which we have given a lot,” said President Milanović.

Speaking about Opatija’s history, the President said that the most complex machines – ships – were assembled and designed in Opatija, and that great historical figures holidayed here. “Whoever wants to, whoever can pay will holiday here in the future, because that’s our goal, to sell our goods and services expensively but with high quality,” President Milanović concluded.

Apart from President Milanović, the President of the Opatija Town Council Neva Slani, Mayor of Opatija Fernando Kirigin, Deputy Prefect of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Petar Mamula and Member of the European Parliament Romana Jerković also spoke at the special session. At a special programme, the Mayor of Opatija and the President of the Opatija Town Council presented the Town of Opatija Lifetime Business Achievement Award to Dolores Kurti, as well as certificates of appreciation and municipal awards to this year’s laureates.

The Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic Bartol Šimunić was alongside President Milanović.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia/Marko Beljan