ZAGREB, September 27, 2018 – Croatia can become an important European energy hub, it was said at an international forum about geopolitical energy prospects in Split on Thursday. “Croatia can become an important energy hub on Europe’s energy map,” State Secretary at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy Ivo Milatić said addressing the two-day energy-banking forum.
Milatić in particular underscored the importance of the Adriatic-Ionian gas pipeline. With that pipeline, Croatia will become a channel to promote the EU’s broader energy interests to include third countries.
Russia’s Ambassador to Croatia Anvar Azimov was critical of the West’s attitude to Russia. Over the past five or six years there has been a lot of misunderstanding between Russia and the European Union and the United States. A propaganda war is being waged with the aim of isolating us, Azimov said.
He said that despite sanctions against Russia, the country was growing stronger economically, politically and in the military sense.
According to Azimov, Europe and Asia are logical partners. It is Russia’s strategic task to restore its strategic relations with the European Union and that process is unavoidable, he said. The European Union cannot survive without the assistance of Russia and Asian countries, Azimov believes.
Trade relations between Russia and the USA have been growing to the detriment of the European Union, he said.
Azimov stressed that Russia had nothing against Southeast European countries, including Serbia, wishing to join the European Union. Russia will never leave that region, he said, adding that throughout history Russia had saved the region.
