ZAGREB, July 3, 2019 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Tuesday evening he was pleased with the agreed package of appointments for top EU jobs.

"I think we can be pleased with this outcome and this compromise. From the point of view of Croatia and our national interests, I think each of these candidates, especially the Commission President nominee, is a very good solution for Croatia," Plenković told the press after the EU summit.

After three days of arduous negotiations, the leaders of the EU member states agreed on the new heads of the European institutions. German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen was nominated European Commission President, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel would head the European Council, France's Christine Lagarde was nominated President of the European Central Bank, and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell would be the next High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

"We have had excellent cooperation with Ursula von der Leyen. She knows Croatia well, she has visited our country and we have often seen each other at international events. She believes in the European project and has great experience, and I believe that she, the first woman to head the Commission, will do this job very well," Plenković said.

Speaking of Charles Michel, Plenković said that they had been cooperating in the European Council for the last three years, adding that Josep Borrell, who recently visited Zagreb, and the globally known Frenchwoman Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, were also good solutions.

Plenković reiterated that in the process of selection of European leaders he had not been a candidate "nor had this option ever been on the table", even though there had been speculation about it in the European media.

"As far as Croatia is concerned, we have achieved a mega victory with the election of Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić as the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Anyone following European politics will realise that it is not realistic that a country which has roughly 0.8 percent of the European population, which contributes one percent into the European budget and which has been a member for only six years, has its people in all positions and in just five days," the prime minister said.

He said that preconditions had been created to achieve good cooperation with all the nominees in promoting Croatia's interests in the European institutions.

"We are actors here and, I may well say, ones that played in a category much above our weight, regardless of the fact that I have lost some weight. We played a very good game and everyone respects us: both the biggest countries and medium-sized countries and countries of our category. That's plain to see. You can't achieve this kind of credibility overnight, but only by making an effort, by explaining and promoting your views as we have done in the last three years," Plenković said.

Asked if French President Emmanuel Macron alluded to him when he said on Monday that some leaders had shown personal ambitions during the negotiations, Plenković replied in the negative. "That's got nothing to do with me. I personally asked him that, because I can see that some people are trying to interpret it that way, and he said it was totally incorrect. Emmanuel and I are on good terms. You know that I speak French very well, there are several of us there who do. We respect each other and we both advocate our own views."

Plenković said that yesterday would be remembered as the day when an agreement between the two largest and most influential member states was rejected for the first time. Germany and France had come to the summit with the proposal that Dutch Social Democrat Frans Timmermans be nominated Commission President and that the post of European Parliament President go to the European People's Party (EPP).

"We stood by our principled views, which we are confident are good, and showed that even smaller countries can do something if they back their views with valid arguments," Plenković said. He said that the Socialists and Liberals did not want the EPP to get the post of Commission President and that their arguments against the EPP candidate Manfred Weber were only a pretext.

"We didn't want to give in for national reasons. In the post of Commission President, we wanted to have someone with whom we would have good and close political relations. It made no sense to us that our candidate should not have the most important role and we won the election for the Parliament. We couldn't accept and allow that. I can't agree to someone who came second or third becoming first, I simply can't, especially since we are a coalition. I am confident we did the right thing," Plenković said while explaining his opposition to the previous proposal under which Timmermans was to become Commission President.

The concept of spitzenkandidat, under which the President of the Commission should be the candidate proposed by the party that wins the European Parliament election, did not pass this time, unlike in 2014 when the outgoing Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was elected.

Plenković said that it should be determined before the next election what changes should be made to EU election legislation. He said he had suggested that the new European Council President Charles Michel set up a task force to analyse what was not good in this concept so that changes could be made in good time.

Asked who would be a Croatian commissioner and what department would be assigned to them, Plenković said that the government would decide this in the autumn.

Commenting on his exchanges with the former prime minister and now the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Zoran Milanović, Plenković said: "He would have been happy had Croatia been so strong while he sat on the European Council."

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

ZAGREB, July 2, 2019 - Milena Žic Fuchs, a professor at the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU), is among six eminent European scholars appointed to the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC) by the European Commission, the University of Zagreb reported on Monday.

The ERC Scientific Council is composed of eminent scientists and scholars. Members are appointed by the European Commission, at the recommendation of an independent Identification Committee.

Žic Fuchs is the first Croatian scholar to be appointed to that body.

The Scientific Council, the ERC's governing body, consists of 22 eminent scientists who represent the entire European scientific community. It defines the scientific funding strategy and selects experts to evaluate project proposals. It is chaired by ERC President Jean-Pierre Bourguignon.

The mission of the ERC, which was founded by the EU in 2007, is to encourage the highest quality research in Europe through competitive funding and to support investigator-driven frontier research across all fields, on the basis of scientific excellence, according to information on the ERC website.

Every year the ERC selects and funds the best and most creative researchers of all nationalities and ages and it also tries to attract top researchers from other parts of the world. So far, the ERC has funded around 9,000 top researchers at different stages of their career.

More news about science in Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, July 2, 2019 - In the six years of its EU membership Croatia has proven to be a member that promotes European values and at the same time it has strengthened its reputation, influence and visibility in the European, global and multilateral context, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MVEP) said in a press release on Monday, on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of Croatia's joining the EU.

By using the numerous advantages of EU membership, including the possibility of taking EU grants, Croatia has achieved visible progress in several areas, the press release said.

"Croatia is improving internal transport connectivity as well as connectivity with other countries thanks to projects such as the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, the reconstruction of railway lines and roads and air and sea ports, and a number of other projects," the MVEP adds.

It further recalls that Croatia has become part of a developed network of agreements on free trade which the EU has concluded with third countries.

"The European Union has 36 agreements on free trade with third countries which cover 63 countries around the world, and that has opened significant markets for our exporters. Also, Croatian entrepreneurs have equal access to the European market, which has contributed to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and boosted economic growth and helped create new jobs and reduce unemployment," the MVEP says.

The Erasmus+ programme has enabled young people to study and gain experience in other member countries while projects financed with EU funds support economic progress, a more even development of all Croatian regions and the preservation and development of agriculture, the ministry says.

With regard to participation in the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, the ministry says that it provides Croatia with the opportunity to achieve its foreign policy priorities, thus having a greater international impact, visibility and recognisability.

It is particularly important for Croatia to make sure the EU's attention stays on the area of Southeast Europe, it says.

"Engagement in the EU's neighbourhood is also important to us as is a common response to global challenges such as migrations, terrorism or hybrid threats. Croatia is especially engaged and contributes to strengthening Europe's security-defence dimension by participating in EU missions and operations, supporting a tighter cooperation between the EU and NATO and participating in efforts to advance Europe's defence capabilities and cooperation," the press release concluded.

The ministry also recalled that Croatia was continuing to work on its accession to the Schengen area and the eurozone.

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

ZAGREB, July 2, 2019 - The Social Democratic Party's (SDP) candidate for President and former prime minister, Zoran Milanović, said on Monday that with his "private behaviour" Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was harming Croatia's interests in the EU and would therefore have to explain, upon his return to Croatia, whose interests he defended and promoted in Brussels.

"I still hope Plenković can become the President of the European Commission. Only that can help lessen the damage to Croatia's interests in the EU he has caused with his behaviour," Milanović wrote on his Facebook wall.

Commenting on Plenković's stay in Brussels where talks are underway on a set of appointments of top EU officials, including the presidents of the European Commission, the European Council, the European Parliament and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Milanović said that Croatia's "adhering to the positions of a people's party" was unacceptable.

"And it's also unwise, given that Germany, which is still represented by Angela Merkel, holds a different opinion and supports a nonetheless acceptable Timmermans as head of the European Commission. Plenković continues to support Weber, who is slowly denying himself support," said Milanovic.

He said that because of that, Croatia was at the risk of suffering damage in a potential conflict with the EU's most powerful countries and reputable democracies such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain and others "who are trying to muster a majority for a decision."

"Croatia is siding with a weird minority group that is blocking decision-making; unlike Croatia, those countries are already in both the Schengen and the euro area or are not because they do not want it. Croatia allegedly does," Milanović said.

"In short - when he returns to Croatia, Plenković will have to explain whose interests he defended and promoted in Brussels. His or those of some People's Party members who are worth nothing without the support of Berlin. Not to speak of siding with defective democracies. Croatia must be a western democracy. It must choose who to associate with. Anything else is a road to pitiful Balkan despotism," Milanović wrote on his Facebook wall.

Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković is protecting national interests and has secured a strong position for Croatia in the EU, the HDZ said on Monday, in a comment on a statement by presidential candidate Zoran Milanović, saying that it was ironical that Milanović, who had "the shameful Lex Perković voted in and caused a conflict with many partners even before Croatia joined the EU", was warning of alleged damage to be suffered by Croatia in the EU.

"Apart from evidently not being familiar with talks that are underway at the European Council, it is ridiculous that of all people, Milanović should be the one to warn of alleged damage to be suffered by Croatia in the EU because he was the one who had the shameful Lex Perković voted in and caused a conflict with many partners, notably Germany, even before Croatia entered the EU," the HDZ said in a post on its Facebook wall.

Germany was one of Croatia's strongest critics when two days before joining the EU on 1 July 2013, during the term of the Milanović government, Croatia amended the European Arrest Warrant law, preventing the extradition of Yugoslav-era intelligence officer Josip Perković for the assassination of Croatian dissident Stjepan Đureković near Munich in 1983.

In August 2016, a Munich court sentenced Perković and another Yugoslav-era Croatian intelligence agent, Zdravko Mustač, to life, finding them responsible for the Đureković murder. The perpetrators remain unknown.

The HDZ stressed that Plenković, unlike Milanović, was protecting national interests and had excellent relations with leaders of key EU countries. "He has also secured a strong position for Croatia in the EU. And the respect Croatia enjoys on the foreign policy front is evidenced by the appointment of Foreign Minister Marija Pejčinović Burić as Secretary-General of the Council of Europe," the HDZ said.

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

ZAGREB, July 1, 2019 - President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce Luka Burilović said on Monday that Croatia had benefited from its membership of the European Union, however, the labour shortage was becoming a burning issue and required a radical approach.

Asked what the past six years of EU membership means for the HGK, Burilović said that Croatia had joined the EU in its "golden years" and that six years on the country was economically stronger.

Croatia joined the European Union on July 1, 2013 as the 28th member of the bloc.

"We have seen continued growth in exports, a decreasing deficit and public debt, lower unemployment and increased employment. Exports to the EU alone have increased by 50 percent and naturally EU membership has inevitably impacted positive economic indicators," he said.

Asked why more EU funding wasn't being absorbed and remained relatively moderate, Burilović said that Croatia has partially failed in that regard, particularly in the earlier years, however in the past two to three years that has improved and he is certain that before the end of the current term the maximum amount at Croatia's disposal of 10.7 billion euro will have been absorbed.

If we significantly use European funds, that alone could increase GDP by two to three percent annually, he said adding that according to forecasts, Croatia's GDP in Q2 could be even higher than 3.9 percent in Q1.

Loss of labour force is Croatia's biggest problem

"Before Croatia joined the EU, we spoke of the lack of jobs and that people could not find work and now we are talking about labour shortages. There is hardly any sector of the Croatian economy that is not seeking workers," Burilović said.

Import quotas for workers have become senseless and it is time for something more concrete to be done. The long-term aim and strategy have to be to adjust the education system with the needs of the labour market and ensure dual vocational education for occupations in greatest demand.

Keeping our people to remain and work here has to first of all be related to increasing salaries, he added. "It is not easy for entrepreneurs but they have to take that additional step because without increasing wages we cannot keep our skilled labour," Burilović concluded.

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

ZAGREB, July 1, 2019 - EU leaders, who gathered at an emergency summit in Brussels on Sunday evening to elect new heads of European institutions, spent most of the night in bilateral talks, with no compromise in sight early on Monday morning. Talks dragged late into the night after it emerged that Dutch Socialist Frans Timmermans did not have the support of the European People's Party (EPP) to become European Commission President.

"The proposal that circulated in the media in the morning has no support from heads of state or government and the EPP presidency. The consensus on this is very clear and firm, so I expect long, tough and very complicated negotiations today," Croatian Prime Minister Plenković told the press after a meeting of EPP leaders and before the EU summit on Sunday evening.

The EPP meeting took longer than planned and the summit began with three and a half hours delay.

The reported deal to award the post of Commission President to Timmermans was reached on the margins of the G20 summit in Osaka last week. Under the deal, if there ever was one, the Liberal group was to get the post of European Council President and the EPP would receive the post of European Parliament President and the post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The Osaka summit was attended by the incumbent European Council President Donald Tusk, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. If such an agreement was indeed reached, it means that Merkel did not receive support from the EPP.

Responding to a reporter's remark that it had seemed that Merkel supported the deal from Osaka, Plenković briefly said that he was talking about the position of the entire EPP. He said that the EPP's position had been clear from the start, and that is its support for the concept of spitzenkandidat under which the political group that wins the most votes, and the EPP won the most votes in May's election for the European Parliament, gets the post of Commission President.

Plenković said that "this entire tirade" against the EPP candidate Manfred Weber was initiated by the Socialists and Liberals who do not want the next Commission President to be from the EPP again.

"This entire tirade against Weber is totally unsubstantiated, that he doesn't have the necessary experience, that he doesn't speak all the languages and so on. I think that is totally irrelevant and only a pretext on the basis of which they want to achieve their goal that the Commission is not led by the EPP. That, of course, is unacceptable to us because the same arguments can be used to disqualify the lead candidates of the Socialists and Liberals," Plenković said.

He pointed out he was not sure that an agreement would be reached at this summit.

Plenković, who is one of the two EPP negotiators on the appointments, was again asked about his possible candidacy for one of the top EU jobs. "I've been telling you all along this is just speculation by the media. I am doing this with full confidence, solidarity, friendship and respect for the mandate we have been given by our colleagues, and that's the only mandate that we have, and for Manfred Weber whom I respect personally. Everything else is just speculation."

The emergency summit was convened to agree on the distribution of the top EU jobs before the first plenary session of the new European Parliament.

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

ZAGREB, June 29, 2019 - European Commissioner for Regional and Urban Policy Corina Cretu said on Friday that Croatia was doing well in absorbing EU funds considering that it was the last country to join the Union, and added that she believed Croatia would be prepared for the presidency of the Council of the European Union in January.

Croatia had a shortage of experts to work on European funds, however progress has been made and today the country is doing well in absorbing money, Cretu told Hina on the margins of a meeting of Danube countries in Bucharest.

The two-day forum, which ends on Friday, was convened to discuss EU-funded projects in 14 countries along the Danube River. It was the last event organised by Romania as the chair of the Council of the EU. Finland will chair the Council for the next six months and as of January 2020 the presidency will assumed by Croatia for the first time.

My advice is that Croatia should not be underestimated as a country. I am sorry that Romania's chairmanship started with a lot of presumptions that it would not be capable of that task, yet it managed to achieve a lot. This is not just about politicians, but an entire machinery and I believe that Croatia will be prepared for the task, Cretu said.

She added that she hoped that the next multi-annual budget will be adopted during Finland's chairmanship. If the budget is not adopted in the coming months, thousands of projects could be jeopardised, she warned.

Croatia has been a member since 2013 and has great expectations from EU funds.

In countries like Croatia, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, more than 60% of public investments are funded by the EU, she said.

Cretu added that the cohesion policy has for three decades tried to reduce the difference in development between poorer and wealthier member states as well as assisting neighbouring countries that are still not part of the EU but participate in projects funded by the EU.

Countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia are already participating in some common forums with member states like the Forum of Danube Countries.

The EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) is a macro-regional strategy adopted by the European Commission in December 2010 and endorsed by the European Council in 2011. The Strategy seeks to create synergies and coordination between existing policies and initiatives taking place across the Danube Region.

The EU finances joint cross-border projects for nine member states and five countries that are still not members and some projects include emergency situations such as floods, wildfires and so on.

The Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker had decided that during his term in office (2014 - 2019) enlargement would not occur, however recently negotiation procedures and preparations of future members have continued and Cretu believes these procedures need to be accelerated.

More news about EU funds can be found in the Business section.

ZAGREB, June 26, 2019 - The European Commission on Tuesday appointed Mr Ognian Zlatev as the new Head of the Commission's Representation in the Croatian capital of Zagreb to succeed Branko Baričević, who has been appointed an adviser to EC President Jean-Claude Juncker for the preparation of Croatia's presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2020, the Commission stated.

Zlatev, a Bulgarian who is currently the head of the European Commission's Representation in Sofia, will take up his duties in Zagreb on 1 July.

The press release introduces Zlatev as "a highly experienced expert in communication, with nearly 30 years of professional experience."

This diplomat is praised for having successfully supported "the Commission's work over the past six years at the Representation in Sofia and notably during the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018."

Zlatev, who speaks Bulgarian, English, Russian, Croatian, Macedonian and Serbian, graduated from Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski and holds an M.A. in Classical Philology. Subsequently, he obtained qualifications in political communication, media relations and development, election campaigning and NGO management.

Baričević "has been the Head of the European Commission Representation in the Republic of Croatia since 1 July 2013, when Croatia became the EU's 28th Member State. He joined the European Commission from the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he had served, between 2005 and 2012, as the Head of Mission of Croatia to the European Union in Brussels. He had previously worked in different diplomatic missions of Croatia (to the U.S., Cyprus and Portugal)," the EC says.

"Prior to his diplomatic career, Mr Baričević was a medical doctor, having undertaken studies in Zagreb, New York and Munich."

The EC has Representations in all EU Member States, as well as Regional Offices in Barcelona, Belfast, Bonn, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Marseille, Milan, Munich and Wroclaw.

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

ZAGREB, June 21, 2019 (Hina) - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić said in Brussels that the rule of the European People's Party (EPP) in the European Union should be put to an end.

"Our common conclusion is that the EPP has been leading the European Union for too long without any visible results," Bernardić told reporters after a meeting of the leaders of Social Democratic parties from the EU member states, who traditionally gather before each EU summit.

He said that the European Social Democrats were fighting for a more socially just Europe, higher wages and pensions, greater social cohesion, sustainable development, a greener society and against climate change.

Bernardić said that the European Social Democrats would not give up on their lead candidate for Commission President, Frans Timmermans of the Netherlands.

Commenting on media reports about President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković as possible candidates for European Commission President, the SDP chief said: "If this information is true, then obviously their focus is not on Croatia but on their own careers, and Croatia must not be held hostage to their careers. It would be good if they made up their minds and told the citizens what their plans are, what they are advocating and where they really want to be if they don't want to be in Croatia."

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

ZAGREB, June 21, 2019 - Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on early Friday morning that a four-hour-long discussion on the hopefuls for the European Commission's president revolved around the three known candidates and that no new candidates had been mentioned.

Leaders of the EU member-states ended the discussion on the distribution of EU top jobs inconclusively and therefore an extraordinary summit meeting is scheduled for 30 June.

"During the four-hour-long dinner the necessary majority was not secured for the support for any of the three candidates, nominated by the European People's Party (EPP), the Socialists and the Liberals" Plenković said after the dinner.

The three contenders for the next EC president are Manfred Weber of the EPP, Frans Timmermans of Party of European Socialists (PES) and Margrethe Vestager of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ELDE).

Plenković answered in the negative when asked if any other names were mentioned.

The European Council president, Donald Tusk, has been now tasked to continue consultations with the heads of state or government and with the political groupings in the EP in the run-up to the extraordinary summit.

The summit in Brussels endorsed a strategic agenda for the 2019-2024 period, which is blueprint for the future activities of the Commission.

Plenković expressed satisfaction that at his proposal, the agenda includes also recommendations for tackling the demographic challenges.

"What is particularly important, and I raised this issue at the Sibiu summit on 8 May is the matter of demographic revitalisation. A half of of the 28 EU member-states have a negative birth rate. We have managed to include through our amendment the topic of demographic challenges to that document," Plenković said.

He explained that this could pave the way for providing the European-level assistance to efforts to address this issue.

The summit briefly discussed the enlargement of the Union. Plenković expressed regret at a failure at a recent ministerial meeting to give North Macedonia and Albania a date for opening the accession negotiations.

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