President Milanović in Trogir: Croatia sits at the EU and NATO table, but decisions are made far away from that table

“This area should be particularly protected, not because antiquity and the early Croatian state were here, but because it is one of those areas that show how much man is able to live in interaction with space and protect it. Protect this space like the apple of your eye”, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović told the leading municipal officials in the town of Trogir at a special session of the Town Council held on the occasion of Municipal Day.

Speaking about Croatia’s position and role in the world today, the President of the Republic vividly said that “Croatia’s place is at the table of NATO and the European Union.” “We currently have some material benefits; however we are sitting at that table like many others who may have the illusion that they are participating. And we don’t actually participate in decision making because decisions are made far away from that table, decisions that commit us in the long term, with high interest – decisions concerning world peace, relations between nations, and the order of things, good and evil, the right side of history, the wrong side of history are imposed. Those big, matter-of-fact, grandiose ideas were never in harmony and synchronized with how man here feels,” explained President Milanović.

Therefore, he called on us to think calmly and clearly about our own interests, in a world that has been changing for decades. “In the new hand of cards, we cannot sit at the head of the table. We must not sit under the table, (we should) step away from the table and watch what is happening, wait for a better moment, that’s for sure. The time of great ideas and great struggles as we knew them is over. This is the time for smart, wise, shrewd management. Croatia will need more and more people who think like managers, who are raised, sufficiently grounded and aware of what they are, but are also dedicated and loyal to the vow that they must fulfil and protect from those who naturally want to, not with weapons but with some other means. Because this is a beautiful country and it matters only to us. Others are not enemies, but they don’t see us,” President Milanović concluded.

Also speaking at the special session, apart from President Milanović, were the President of the Trogir Town Council Toni Zulim, Mayor of Trogir Ante Bilić, Deputy Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Sabina Glasovac, and Split-Dalmatia County Prefect and delegate of the Croatian Prime Minister Blaženko Boban.

The Head of the Office of the President Orsat Miljenić accompanied President Milanović in Trogir.

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