Business

Plenković and 4 European Heads of Government Discuss Start of Tourist Industry

By 23 April 2020

ZAGREB, April 23, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday evening held telephone conversations with four European heads of government on restarting the tourist industry, a sector important for the Croatian economy.

The ban on nonessential travel imposed by many countries in a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19 has adversely affected the tourism sector, which makes up a 20 percent of Gross Domestic Product of Croatia, a popular destination for many Europeans.

According to the information which he tweeted on his Twitter account, Plenković held telephone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša.

Last week, the talks between Plenković and his Czech counterpart Andrej Babis were held on this topic, too.

Last night's conference call also focused on an EU summit meeting with western Balkan countries, which was due to have been held in May in Zagreb. The coronavirus epidemic is the reason why the summit meeting will be held as a virtual event by the end of Croatia's six-month presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2020.

On Thursday afternoon, EU heads of state or government will hold a video conference to discuss a joint response to the economic and social repercussions of the corona crisis.

They are expected to reach agreement on a strategy for the recovery from the consequences of the coronavirus epidemic and on gradual reactivation of the economy.

More news about Croatia and the EU can be found in the Politics section.

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