President Milanović Participates in Conference on the Occasion of the Republic of Croatia’s First Decade in the European Union

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović said today in Europe House that he does not consider the first decade of Croatia’s membership in the European Union “either a success or a failure”, and that he will personally fight against the Union becoming a federation.

“The European Union is imagined by many as a federation, which in my opinion, it should never become. I will personally fight against it,” President Milanović said in his opening remarks at the conference “Ten Years of the Republic of Croatia’s Membership in the European Union”.

The conference was organized by the Miko Tripalo Centre for Democracy and Law under the auspices of the President of the Republic, and in conjunction with the European Commission Representative Office in Croatia.

President Milanović added that he opposes “any idea of ​​a federal state, of Brussels replacing Belgrade, Budapest, Vienna. I don’t want that. I don’t want us to have a centre of power again,” he added. He also considers the first ten years of membership “neither a success nor a failure”.

“The EU budget is so small that you really can’t do anything with it except build innovation centres, a bridge or two, a fire station, all the things that I see outside of Zagreb every week, and that’s good because there is nothing else,” President Milanović noted.

Croatia has been a member of the Union since 1 July 2013, and neighbouring countries are still in the waiting room. “We waited a long time to become a member of the EU, but not as long as the Western Balkan countries have been waiting”, the President said, and described it as “some form of abuse and irresponsibility” towards those countries.

FOTO: Ured predsjednika Republike Hrvatske / Filip Glas