Croatian PM on official state visit to Germany
Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. It is the second high-level meeting between Croatian and German officials after the new Croatian government took power. Croatian Foreign Minister Miro Kovač recently visited his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, reports Jutarnji List on March 1, 2016.
At the press conference after the meeting, Chancellor Merkel said: “Croatia and Germany are closely linked countries. There are 360,000 Croats living in Germany, and more than 2 million Germans spend their summers in Croatia. We support Croatia and plan to continue with our partnership. We have discussed the agenda of the new government and the economic cooperation. We have also established the Croatian-German task force which is scheduled to meet on 15 March in order to improve relations”, Merkel said.
The topic of refugee crisis could not be avoided. “We had a very intensive discussion and I clearly said that Germany supports what we agreed at the meeting on 16 February, that no one has the right to choose to which country the refugees will go, that we will help Turkey, that we will defend the external borders and that we need to ensure that no country is under excessive burden”, Merkel said.
Prime Minister Orešković thanked the Chancellor for the warm welcome and said that Croatia always had a good relationship with Germany, but that the goal is to strengthen relations, especially in the economic sector. He added that Croatia and Germany were partners. “We have common goals and challenges. The biggest of these is the migrant crisis. Germany has shown its humanity. Croatia has also recognized the suffering of the people and cooperated in providing assistance to refugees”, he said.
He added that he believes in a common future and prosperity of the EU. ‘The main objective of Croatian government is to strengthen the economy and create a positive investment climate”, he said, adding that Croatia offers the possibility for investments in energy, tourism and other sectors. “We will reduce debt, increase GDP and reduce the deficit below 3 percent of GDP.”
Asked to assess the financial situation in Croatia, Merkel said that she could support the policy of reforms if there is economic growth. “We are ready to help our companies engage in investment activities. When the investment conditions are transparent, that is better for the investment climate”, said Merkel.
