ZAGREB, November 8, 2018 – Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and his Finnish counterpart Juha Sipila, who met in Helsinki on Wednesday, agreed that the relations between Croatia and Finland had been more and more developed, and were now together preparing the programme for the European trio that will chair the Council of the European Union over the next year and a half year.
We have very good bilateral relations and had a good talk on EU issues and on bilateral relations. Our countries, together with Romania, form the trio faced with a challenging period when the European Parliament the Commission and others will change. I hope that we will not leave a lot unresolved matters for you during your chairmanship, Sipila told reporters after the talks with Plenković who arrived in Helsinki to attend a conference of the European People’s Party.
Romania, which will take over the chairmanship at the start of next year, followed by Finland in the second half of 2019 and Croatia in the first half of 2020, form a European trio that together prepare the programme for the next year and a half.
Prime Minister Plenković also expressed satisfaction with the good development of the Croatia-Finland relations and their intensified contact, and recalled the introduction of four direct flights between Croatia and Finland during the six months of the tourism season which has notably contributed to tourist arrivals from Finland.
“With regard to the programme of the European trio, I think that our priorities converge with regard to growth, security, migration, global issues, relations with Southeast Europe, enlargement and joint efforts to complete negotiations over the multi-annual financial framework,” Plenković said and expressed hope that those negotiations will have been completed by the time Croatia takes over the chairmanship. “If that happens to await us, we will be prepared,” he said.
Agreement over the seven-year budget framework is always one of the most demanding issues in the European Union and negotiations go on for a long time. The European Commission delivered its draft multi-annual budget in May and expressed hope that an agreement on this matter would be reached before the European Parliament election in the spring next year. However, the chances for that are slim. In any case it is not excluded that an agreement is reached during Croatia’s chairmanship.
Asked how to tackle populism, which is an increasing phenomenon throughout Europe, Plenković said that he endeavours to raise awareness in the Croatian public of European topics in such a way that after each summit meeting he speaks in parliament about the conclusions adopted at those meetings.
“My party’s policy is very clear. We try to present matters as they are. We strive to win voters’ support for a very clear platform without rhetoric that generates fear. The European Parliament election will be an opportunity to win the confidence of voters, an opportunity to send encouraging messages. Various types of parties exist. There are political parties and parties that can govern. We are a party that can govern,” said Plenković who is the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
Sipila added that in that regard the most important thing was to implement what the party had promised its voters.
For more on the HDZ party, click here.
