September 21, 2023 – The Croatian President participated in the opening of the general debate of the UN General Assembly. He used his stay in New York to meet with Croats who live there and in other cities on the East Coast of the USA.
“The world we live in, including Europe, is not ideal. Very often, things are imposed on us, like models that are bad, lived through, but had never worked. I advocate and will advocate a mildly selfish approach in national politics, given that Croatia is a small country, adhering to the imperatives of humanity but primarily ensuring what is good for us.
We must not fall for big ideas and revolutionary projects. And as the first Croatian President said – we are a small but not insignificant nation, and great ideas should be dealt with by those who have time. We are fine where we are,” President Milanović said at a reception for Croatian emigrants in New York, writes Index.
As he emphasized in Canada, Milanović told American Croats that Croatia does not need their money either, noting that he does not even want to think that it would ever find itself in a situation where it would need it again.
Reminding that nobody helped Croatia, apart from its emigrants, and that it went through it alone, the President concluded: “We don’t have enemies, nor are we looking for them; we have allies. But Croatia is the only European country that had to achieve everything independently. And today, Croatia keeps moving forward.”
Croatian President Meets Fifa President
Milanović also met the President of the International Football Federation (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, who congratulated the Croatian President on the result and the Croatian national team’s contribution to football.
“It was great to meet Croatian President Zoran Milanović and talk about football in his great country. I congratulated him on Croatia’s contribution to our beautiful sport in recent years.
Some of the memories their players gave us, especially during the last two World Cups, will live with every football fan for a long time,” Infantino posted on social media.
Infantino also congratulated the Croatian Football Association on its work.
“The Croatian Football Association is a great example of how a member can punch above its weight in world football and allow young talents to shine and progress. We at FIFA are very proud to have been part of the support in this process through the FIFA Forward program”, Infantino pointed out.
