ZAGREB, February 10, 2018 – The preservation of the EU’s common values, which was the reason why Croatia joined the Union, is the response to the growing populism and euro-scepticism of the recent years, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić said at the opening of the conference “The Future of Europe”, organised by the German Hanns Seidel Foundation in Zagreb on Friday.
We must take concrete steps to respond to the growing populism and euro-scepticism, trends evident in the recent years, the minister said.
She called for maintaining “the highest values of the EU: democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms and the rule of law”. Croatia strongly advocates the preservation of these fundamental values and reduction of differences in the integration of EU members, she added. Croatia is a proponent of EU policies positioning the citizen in their centre, she said.
Croatia takes over the EU’s rotating six-month presidency on 1 January 2020, and the Croatian chairmanship will be a very visible and important indicator of the country’s contribution to the EU’s development, the minister said.
The Hanns Seidel Foundation’s regional director for Southeast Europe, Klaus Fiesinger, recalled at the conference “the EU is now the place where Europeans can enjoy a unique diversity of culture, ideas and traditions in a Union covering four million square kilometres,” as stated in the European Commission’s 2017 White Paper on the Future of the EU.
Fiesinger said that the term ‘multi-speed Europe’ was usually mentioned in a negative context, insisting that the European integration never happens simultaneously.
The conference “The Future of Europe” is inspired by the Commission’s White Paper and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s subsequent State of the Union speech as well as statements of some of the European leaders, the organiser said in the invitation to the conference.
The aim of the event was “to discuss the challenges of more or less Europe, the current challenges to the Euro-zone, the current challenges to the Schengen-Zone, the range of PESCO and other current issues.”
A common youth declaration, a result of five youth workshops attended by 70 students from the University of Zagreb, was presented at the conference.
