ZAGREB, June 19, 2020 – Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday that the billions of euros intended for Croatia in the EU’s plan for recovery from the coronavirus crisis were not in question despite objections from some member-countries to the €750 billion plan.
At a virtual meeting to be held on Friday, EU leaders will discuss for the first time the Next Generation EU recovery plan and a proposal for the new seven-year budget, worth 1,850 billion euros in total.
The value of the recovery plan of €750 billion, proposed by the European Commission, is opposed by the so-called frugal four – Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden.
More than ten billion euros has been intended for Croatia for a period of four years, of which three-quarters are grants and one-quarter are favourable loans.
Speaking ahead of today’s video-conference, Plenkovic said that the funds intended for Croatia were not at risk.
“Definitely not. I think that we can be satisfied considering that the criteria by which the EC was guided were rather comprehensive, and it is also a fact that the two most influential countries, Germany and France, have supported (EC President) Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal,” Plenkovic told reporters.
“I think that the final agreement will be very close to what is on the table today. I do not expect any major changes.”
