ZAGREB, August 24, 2018 – Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday Croatia wanted to arrange with Germany an action plan for strengthening cooperation, notably for attracting German investment.
Plenković will visit Berlin next week. He said he and Chancellor Angela Merkel would try to come up with an action plan of cooperation in ten areas, from politics and the economy to defence and culture. “What we want is a higher degree of German investment in Croatia, although economic relations with the two southernmost states of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg are very developed,” he said on the fringes of a conference of Croatian diplomats.
“Our partnership in the EU and NATO is very good. We always say that Germany, notably Chancellor Angela Merkel, is the anchor of stability of the European project and the EU’s economic engine. Croatia has been building this partnership for years and will continue to do so,” Plenković said.
He, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić opened the two-day conference of Croatian ambassadors and consuls general, who received from the foreign policy co-creators guidelines for their work. “It is important that diplomats hear firsthand about everything they must know and how they should represent Croatia,” said Pejčinović Burić.
She said the biggest global challenge was the crisis of multilateralism, which she said was reflected on Croatia’s work in international organisations and bilateral relations with some countries.
A member of the European Union and NATO, this year Croatia is also in the middle of its UN Human Rights Council membership, and chairs the Central European Initiative and the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.
Next year, Croatia will host a summit of China and 16 Central European countries, while in the first half of 2020 it will chair the EU.
The main topics of the first day of the diplomats’ conference were the geopolitical and security framework and preparations for chairing the Council of the EU in the first half of 2020. On Tuesday, diplomats will discuss the economy, public diplomacy and the functioning of the foreign affairs service.
