President Milanović on Abolishing Unanimity in EU Decision Making: It can’t be done like that, we joined the Union under different rules
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović today gave a lecture to students of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija, after which he answered students’ questions. When asked what he sees as security issues for Croatia, President Milanović warned of constant changes in the way the European Union functions.
“It is not a security issue that threatens our survival, but it threatens to disrupt a system that we have only recently joined. We are constantly in the process of change. Half of the European Parliament, including some of my former colleagues, voted in favour of making changes to the Constitution of the European Union. We haven’t even gotten used to it, and we are already about to make changes. Of course, this does not go through formal channels. Rather, the big players, who see us as tiny lego blocks, say that the principle of unanimity, when making some decisions in the EU, is being abolished. The original Yugoslavia, a Belgrade-Serbian-Milošević narrative. It can’t be done like that because we joined the Union under different rules,” said the President.
Commenting on the situation in Croatia’s neighbourhood in the context of security, President Milanović highlighted the position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “We have unfinished business in BiH, and that does not at all mean that we are interested in territory. The status of the Croat people in BiH is something that is regulated by the Dayton Accords, a power-sharing agreement, and it is the “Golden Bull” that must be adhered to. (We should) not philosophize every five years about how it should be changed. No, it should not be changed because it is a motive for war. There will be no changes to Dayton without our consent, we won’t allow it,” said the President of the Republic.
Furthermore, in order to safeguard Croatia’s security, President Milanović called for a thought-out foreign policy. “Don’t impose yourself where you are not needed. Why are you meddling in the conflict in Palestine? Palestine is not a real geopolitical conflict, since that conflict exists only as long as Israel can do what it wants, i.e. as long as the U.S. tolerates it, more or less, to the dismay of the world, which even sympathizes with (Palestine),” President Milanović said before the students of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija.
In his lecture to the 50th generation of students of the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, President Milanović spoke about the role of tourism in Croatia. “We have to come to terms with the fact that 20% of Croatia’s economy is in tourism, but also that it is very important to make tourism a top-notch product,” he said, adding that we all depend on exogenous factors that we can hardly influence, and tourism is no exception.
“We depend on peace and stability, predictability and security of the families who visit us in Croatia, who will have available surplus income every year to meet certain needs, which are not primary, but which they enjoy. If that disappears, we are in trouble,” said President Milanović, pointing out that such stability and security disappear only in the event of severe geopolitical disturbances.
In this context, he emphasized that the time of the great powers and their total dominance is passing, explaining that the world we knew and lived in for the past 30 years was a world of complete U.S. domination, and it was not an ideal world. “The power of the U.S. and its allies, and this includes us, is no longer the power of 20 years ago when that power was unquestionable and unassailable. Others have woken up and are a danger,” said the President of the Republic.
“We are the West – as much as possible and on our terms. We can enter into conflicts only when our existence is at stake, and at the moment it is not, because we enjoy the position of reaping a historical security dividend that we have never had,” President Milanović told the students, saying that we fought and continue to fight for our goals and apply for various memberships.
“We are everywhere. And what do we get from that? We have European funds! How much money is that? Did we exist before European funds?,” asked President Milanović and pointed out that money from EU funds is spent on things that are not bad, but they are not essential. “He who gives money does not give money to the competition for it to catch up and threaten him. This is about the relationship between those who have and those who have less. The one who has will never give to the one who has less and favour him so that he loses supremacy,” explained the President.
“In order to be as successful as possible, we must be fully aware of everything that is happening around us,” President Milanović told the students in conclusion, citing Austria as an example. “That country was on the losing side after World War II, but they learned a historical lesson. We don’t have that burden of history. Since their example is radical, it only shows how much one generation of smart and insightful people can do. That country has become a symbol of stability and security, a very well-organized country, which has always made sure that it is not too closely associated with anything and that it is not dragged into any quarrel if it does not choose it itself,” said the President.
The Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management was established in Opatija in 1960. It is the only higher education institution in Croatia fully focused on the education of managerial personnel in the hotel and tourism industries, as well as on the training of research staff in the field.
During his visit to the Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, President Milanović held a working meeting with the Faculty’s administration. The meeting was attended by Dean Marko Perić, Vice Dean Zvonimira Šverko Grdić, Professor Marinela Krstinić Nižić, Associate Professor Elena Rudan, Professor Anamarija Vrtodušić Hrgović, Vice Dean Siniša Bogdan, Vice Rector Saša Zelenika and municipal and county representatives Opatija Mayor Fernando Kirigin and Primorje-Gorski Kotar Deputy County Prefect Marina Medarić.
President Milanović was accompanied by the Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education Jadranka Žarković and the Commissioner of the President of the Republic for Sports Željko Jovanović.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan