ZAGREB, February 25, 2019 – Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Monday met Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah IV Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the margins of a summit meeting of the Arab League and the European Union in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Prime Minister Plenković was quoted in a press release issued by the government as saying that Croatia would like to boost economic and trade cooperation with Kuwait, to which Zagreb accredited its ambassador a year and a half ago.
In 2017, the volume of trade between Croatia and the Arab League reached a billion euro.
Plenković says that this can be perceived as an opportunity for Croatian companies specialised in construction and the defence industry. The government supports the efforts to enable them to do business in those countries, the premier said.
Attending the talks between Plenković and the Kuwaiti emir were also the ministers of finance and foreign affairs of that Gulf country.
Croatia and the EU wish to strengthen multilateral institutions and organisations and an international order founded on international law, which envisages the rule of law and human rights at national level, and this is the message the EU wishes to send its Arabian partners, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Sharm El Sheikh on Monday.
“The position of Croatia and all of the European Union is very clear. We wish to strengthen bilateral institutions and organisations. We want the international order to be founded on international law, so that not only international law but the rule of law and human rights are respected at national level. These are the messages of nearly all European officials. They are part of what we are sending as the values of our foreign policy activities. Naturally, there’s room for progress in this part of the world and all leaders of the partner countries realise that,” Plenković said ahead of the second day of an EU-League of Arab States summit.
With this meeting, the EU wishes to highlight “the high dose of partnership and respect” in the relations with the Arab world, the countries of North Africa and the Middle East, Plenković said.
This partnership is expected to help boost economic cooperation and trade relations as well as prevent illegal migration, while enabling the EU to resolve key security issues with regard to Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya.
“By arriving at the highest level, the EU also wished to send a message of partnership, as resolving our internal security issues is very much related to the good cooperation, partnership and dialogue which we must have, notably with the countries of North Africa,” said Plenković.
The cooperation with those countries has significantly reduced illegal migration. They are transit countries for migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and some have become destination countries, he added.
“That’s why it’s important to focus our foreign policy activities and development aid, so as to build the institutions of the states in this part of the world so that they, with their strength, economic development and eradication of poverty, can prevent radicalisation and then not just illegal migration, but also terrorist activities,” Plenković said.
More news on the relations between Croatia and Kuwait can be found in the Politics section.
