ZAGREB, April 14, 2019 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Saturday presented his HDZ party's candidates for the European Parliament elections, telling reporters Croatia was anchored in the European Union by the nation-building, patriotic, Christian democratic and popular values shared by the HDZ.
He said the HDZ would try to win the EP vote to boost the Croatian economy even more, adding that the candidates on the slate were a combination of experience, knowledge and youth.
The upcoming elections are elections between those who can maintain the course of Croatia's development and those who would go backward and isolate Croatia. "These elections will show which political course will prevail and which policies enjoy support."
Plenković said his cabinet was doing its best so that minorities felt good in Croatia.
He said the international positioning of Croatia as done by the government and HDZ MEPs was good. "This positioning is part of our strategy, our policy." He added that Croatia did an excellent job in chairing the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.
He recalled that Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić was shortlisted for the CoE secretary-general's position and that HDZ MEP Ivana Maletić "will be elected to the European Court of Auditors, while the HDZ will host in Zagreb in November a big European People's Party congress which 2,000 people will attend."
"Croatia's chairing of the European Union will be the crown of our efforts," Plenković said, adding that it would occur on the 30th anniversary of Croatia's independence.
He recalled that, under his cabinet, Croatia had exited the EU's excessive deficit procedure as well as overcome macroeconomic imbalances and that its investment rating had been restored. "These are the concrete things we have been doing, plus the 14 billion kuna more we received than we paid into the EU budget."
The head of the slate, Karlo Ressler, said the HDZ wanted, with its optimism, to change the climate of hopelessness.
More elections news can be found in the Politics section.
