President Milanović: Economic Activity Will Drop, We Have to Be Prepared
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović took part in the 14th edition of the Sustainable Development Conference and the 15th HRIO (Croatian Sustainability Index) awards presentation organized by the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development. “Congratulations on your admirable effort. I will support it as I will support this kind of waste collection in Zagreb even though there will be a lot of problems, but work has to start. It won’t and can’t be perfect”, President Milanović noted in his address to the award recipients and participants.
President Milanović further reminded that Croatia has been a member of the European Union for almost ten years. “After ten years one has to draw the line and ask – where do we stand, how many zeros are in that number? We are obsessed with the monetary perception of the European Union: how much we received, how much we gave, how much is our surplus. However, that surplus is minimal, such a minute amount, annually 5 billion kuna”, President Milanović stated, adding that the current government is not to blame because it can’t be better.
“The whole system has been designed so that those who have a lot, the most or very much, stay where they are, and that those who are under stay where they belong. This is where our small Croatia is”, the President stated, and added that nobody will think of us if we don’t take care of ourselves and if we won’t care about this state.” “Maybe they won’t want to offend us, harm us on purpose, upset our plans, but that they will take care of us – no chance”, President Milanović noted.
Referring to the current situation in Europe, President Milanović thinks that the people who came to Croatia this year, whose numbers were smaller than last year, but who left more money, will have and spend less next year. “Therefore our sustainable development will become some sort of stagnation. I don’t have good news. Major problems have to be solved collectively, and at their head are always the ones who caused them, and those are the big ones. I am president of a small country, and small countries have to be shrewd and selfish, and not push themselves to the front row”, President Milanović said, adding that next winter will not be a winter of freezing, but a winter of compression and restrictions. “Under these conditions economic activity cannot increase but will drop since we are dependent on these markets. That is what we have to be prepared for. Everything will depend on us only”, the President of the Republic said in concluding his address.
The Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development is a non-profit business institution of businesspeople assembling the largest Croatian companies and leaders in practically all sectors. The Council was formed in 1997, and is aimed at representing business interests in sustainable development before the Government of the Republic of Croatia, supporting tendencies towards sustainable development in the economic, political, legal and societal spheres of life and encouraging changes that will accelerate the transition to sustainable development in Croatia. At the 14th edition of the Sustainable Development Conference, awards were presented for the 15th time to the most responsible and sustainable companies, whose responsible practices in the economy are valued through the Croatian Sustainability Index HRIO.
Attending the 14th Conference on Sustainable Development and the 15th Croatian Sustainability Index HRIO awards presentation alongside President Milanović was the Special Adviser to the President for Energy and Climate Julije Domac.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta