May the 1st, 2026 – As the longest serving EU prime minister, Andrej Plenković spoke to CNN about various topics, ranging from energy independence to Magyar’s success in neighbouring Hungary.
As Index vijesti/news writes, Plenković recently spoke on CNN and expressed his high hopes for the incoming Hungarian prime minister. It was particularly emphasised that the Croatian prime minister is now officially the longest-serving head of government within the entire European Union.
“When it comes to Hungary’s European role, we have high hopes for Magyar,” Plenković said from Dubrovnik in an interview with CNN’s Richard Quest.
Peter Magyar successfully ended Viktor Orban’s controversial sixteen-year rule with a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in April. The Croatian prime minister once again welcomed the fact that Budapest finally lifted the blockade of a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine following the elections, of which 60 billion was intended for defence and 30 billion for budgetary needs.
“On a bilateral level, we now have the first few months of the new government in Budapest to put all of our open issues on the table, try to resolve them quickly and continue to establish a sincere partnership and friendly relations with Hungary,” he added.
Quest then moved onto Plenković being the longest serving EU prime minister, adding that with Viktor Orban’s departure, it’s all official.
Plenković responded that it is “a responsibility that he is willing to shoulder” and that he intends to use his experience and knowledge, Croatian influence, as well as his own personal perspective to contribute to the European debate on burning issues such as defence, competitiveness and the new seven-year budget.
Plenković spoke to CNN from the City of Dubrovnik, where he was attending the Three Seas Initiative. There, he stated that members are currently finding ways to boost their resilience and mutual assistance to strengthen energy security.
