Another regional office relocation for Croatia’s president.
After a successful temporary stay in Split during the summer, Croatian president Kolinda Grabar Kitarović has decided to temporarily move her office to Istria. On the second day of her stay in the Istria County, the president visited Pazin, where she met with mayor Renato Krulčić and mayors of surrounding municipalities. They discussed development projects and plans, concluding that it was necessary to prepare a development strategy, both at the local and the state levels, reports Index.hr on September 15, 2015.
The president said that it was important and useful to visit local communities and learn about their problems and challenges, so that the equal development of all Croatian regions could be achieved. “We simply must know where we are going. The development strategy should precisely define the three known components of sustainable development, namely, economic, social and environmental component”, said the president.
When it comes to EU projects, she believes that further decentralization should be achieved according to the principle of subsidiarity and fiscal decentralization to the local units. “I think that the counties can make much better decisions about their development needs and nominate projects for EU funds, in comparison with the ministries and agencies at the national level”, said the president. She believes that the task of applying for the EU funds should be lowered to the local government level.
Expressing satisfaction with her visit, mayor Krulčić said the president was informed about the Istra Inspirit Fantasy park, which is the most important tourism project in Pazin. The preparations for the project have been started a year ago and it should be built at the former military training barracks. He also presented other projects, like upgrading the bus station, the construction of the hospice with ten rooms and a whole range of smaller infrastructure projects, which will be nominated for rural development funds, but also for all the other tenders available to local government units.
After the meeting at the City Hall, president Grabar Kitarović visited the Center for Inclusion and met with the representatives of the Agency for Rural Development of Istria.
