ZAGREB, May 18, 2018 – Romania and Croatia will coordinate their activities during their presidencies of the European Union in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and the good relations between the two countries will be enhanced by strengthening defence cooperation, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at the start of an official visit to Bucharest on Thursday.
Romania will preside over the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2019. It will be followed by Finland in the second half of 2019 and Croatia in the first half of 2020. The three countries constitute a so-called Trio which prepares a joint programme, defining topics and issues that the Council will deal with in the period of 18 months.
Zagreb and Bucharest “will act together as factors of cohesion on Europe’s foreign policy scene, which will add to the intensity of our cooperation,” Plenković said in the Croatian Embassy during a meeting with representatives of the Croatian community in Romania.
He said that the two countries would also reinforce their relationship through defence cooperation, adding that for that purpose he would sign a memorandum on cooperation with Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor on Friday.
On Friday, the Croatian prime minister will visit the international defence, aeronautics and security exhibition “Black Sea Defence and Aerospace 2018”, which will feature nine companies from Croatia. Defence Minister Damir Krstičević will also attend.
Plenković and Krstičević are scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Vasilica Viorica Dancila, President Klaus Iohannis and Speaker of the House of Representatives Liviu Nicolae Dragnea.
