Speaking at the Zagreb Faculty of Law on the topic “Croatia’s international position: from independence to new challenges and opportunities,” he recalled Croatia’s difficult path to the recognition of its independence during the Greater Serbia military aggression and later on to EU membership.
“Entering the Union was a process that was anything but simple… In the 90s, unlike other Central and Eastern European countries, we were left completely on the margin.”
As we were dealing with occupied territories, refugees, and the war damage, he said, Central and Eastern European countries were becoming financial investment centers.
That fact, Plenković added, created a distance between those countries, which were making fast progress towards the Union, and Croatia, which was trying to catch up.
Trust between old and new Europe
He said the key element for EU enlargement was trust between “old” and “new” Europe. “The key element is trust between Europe’s East and West. It isn’t written anywhere, yet it’s the key to everything.”
Plenković recounted an exchange with a British diplomat who said, “You leaders of Eastern and Central Europe pretend you are ready, we in the West pretend we want you.”
Croatia’s EU accession in 2013 “was very demanding, very difficult. When I look at some political actors today, even the public, I almost have the impression that some people don’t appreciate that,” he said.
Plenković went on to say that the Schengen and euro areas were the only “deeper” structures Croatia should join and that decisions on that would be made soon.
“We are entering Schengen at a time when Schengen is not what we would like it to be, to freely cross borders… Today, because of three elements – the migration crisis, terrorism, and COVID – it’s the opposite. Internal controls are everywhere and the goal is to protect the EU’s external border, prevent terrorism, and put the pandemic under control so that we can go back to free movement as it used to be.”
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