Plenković is in New York for the UN General Assembly meeting.
On Monday, the first day of his visit to the United Nations in New York, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met with the representatives of the Croatian community in the United States. He and Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić met with Croats from New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington, reports Večernji List on September 19, 2017.
“I am glad that, during our visit to New York, organised by our embassy and consulate and Croatia’s permanent representation at the UN, we had the opportunity to meet with representatives of Croats living in the USA, not just here in New York, but also in other states. We have met with representatives of the Croatian World Congress from Los Angeles, and Croats from Washington, Philadelphia, Houston, and a number of other cities,” said Plenković.
“This is the moment when we want to bring together all those who want to contribute to their homeland,” the Prime Minister said, adding that American Croatians were doing it already with a lot of enthusiasm.
“There are few Croatian families who do not have someone in the diaspora on one of the continents, and that is why I personally always love to see this kind of the desire to get closer to their homeland, and to promote Croatia as much as possible here in America,” said Plenković.
He spoke about the 25th anniversary of Croatia’s membership in the UN, while Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić and Croatian Ambassador to Washington Pjer Šimunović invited Croats in America to co-operate with the homeland.
Asked ahead of US President Donald Trump’s speech what he expected from his first appearance at the UN General Assembly, Plenković said that the speech should point to the main US foreign policy priorities. “It should demonstrate how he and his administration see multilateralism, the way they adjusted to the functioning of international relations and I expect a speech that will reveal the main contours of US foreign policy, which then affects everyone else,” said Plenković.
He added that it was notable that this time in New York there will not be German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is busy with parliamentary elections, as well as the Russian and Chinese presidents, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, so the Trump’s speech will be the dominant topic in the next few days.
Address by Prime Minister Plenković to the UN General Assembly is scheduled for Thursday.
Translated from Večernji List.
