ZAGREB, February 1, 2020 - At the summit in Beja on Saturday, the leaders of the Friends of Cohesion group will define their positions on cohesion policy that is important for all, and especially for those European regions that are yet to catch up with those most developed, the Croatian and Portuguese prime ministers said in this Portuguese city.

"Our task today is to define our positions ... on the so-called traditional policies, and those are, first of all, cohesion policy as well as agricultural policy," Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa.

"Cohesion policy is the redistributive strength of the European budget that EU citizens need, regardless of where they live, and especially in those regions of our member states where we still strive to reach the development level of the most developed regions in Europe or those of average development," Plenković said.

Costa said that Portugal and Croatia have different experiences in the EU, but that there are also common aspects such as cohesion. Both countries are interested in getting adequate funding from the EU budget in the next seven years.

"Our message regarding cohesion is clear. We want to make it clear that Europe is one and united in its interests. It is important to us that Britain has left, but it is even more important that Europe should stay coherent," Costa said.

Today's meeting of the informal group Friends of Cohesion is important ahead of an extraordinary meeting of the European Council on February 20, which was called by European Council President Charles Michel in an effort to reach a compromise between the Friends of Cohesion and the countries that seek to reduce the EU budget and direct most of the reduced budget at new priorities, such as climate change, at the expense of cohesion and agricultural policies.

The new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will largely define what the EU will be like in the next ten years or so. The EU member states are divided over the MFF, the first without the United Kingdom which left the European Union on January 31 at midnight Central European Time.

Cohesion policy is an inseparable part of the single market and concerns all EU member states, Costa said, recalling that cohesion is important for all member states because they have all used these funds.

"It's no coincidence that the Friends of Cohesion have gathered together 17 countries, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, which is a real proof of how important this policy is. It enables every village, every town and every citizen to deal with their problems and get closer to the European level standard," Costa said.

He added that it would be bad for the EU if these funds were cut in favour of some other policies.

"Of course, we need a compromise. We have the position of the European Commission, Parliament and Council and we need to bring them closer and reach a final agreement," Costa said.

Plenković reiterated that Croatia would be pleased if this agreement was reached during its presidency of the Council of the EU, but noted that it wanted it to be a good agreement. He said that the agreement should be reached this year.

Plenković used his working visit to Portugal to meet with Costa. They concluded that the two countries had very good and friendly relations.

Both countries are interested in strengthening their trade, which reached about €115 million last year.

"We think we should get both Croatian and Portuguese companies more interested in investing and cooperating. I am particularly glad that we are seeing a growing number of Portuguese tourists," Plenković said.

More news about relations between Croatia and Portugal can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, July 11, 2019 - Croatian Defence Minister Damir Krstičević and Portugal's Defence Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho on Wednesday signed an agreement in Lisbon regarding cooperation in the area of defence, including cooperation between fire-fighting squadrons, the Croatian Defence Ministry reported in a press release.

In addition to cooperation between fire-fighting squadrons, the two ministers also agreed cooperation within the framework of EU membership in the areas of homeland security, the navy, military education and the defence industry, the press release said.

Minister Krstičević informed Cravinho of Croatia's homeland security system and of Croatia's strategy in fighting wildfires.

"Croatia adopted a National Security Strategy and we set up a homeland security system in an effort to be more efficient in the fight against natural disasters and security challenges. We are prepared to share our experience with Portugal," said Krstičević, as carried by the press release.

"We have a similar climate and experience in fighting wildfires. In 2013, Croatia assisted Portugal in putting out wildfires. We have excellent fire-fighting squadron pilots and we can be of assistance," added Krstičević.

The ministers discussed chairmanship of the EU, considering that that task awaits both countries. Croatia will chair the EU in the first half of 2020 while Portugal will chair it in the first half of 2021.

Minister Krstičević informed Cravinho of Croatia's priorities during its chairmanship, which will focus on continuing with the implementation of existing initiatives such as PESCO, the European defence fund and military mobility, the industrial dimension of defence, further efforts by the EU in southeast Europe, and strengthening cooperation between the EU and NATO, the press release said.

More news about relations between Croatia and Portugal can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 28, 2019 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović met President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa outside Lisbon late on Monday evening, after which she said that the two countries' relations were excellent.

Grabar Kitarović, who arrived in Lisbon on Monday morning, met her Portuguese counterpart in the town of Carcavelos, about 20 kilometres outside the capital, where she and de Sousa gave talks at the "Estoril Conference 2019" dedicated to global challenges such as justice, human rights and women's equality.

"It is nice to see you a year after my state visit to Portugal. The visit, just like your visit to Croatia in 2017, confirmed our excellent bilateral relations as well as relations as part of the EU and NATO. The visits gave an impetus to the further strengthening of our cooperation, notably on the economic front," Grabar Kitarović said after the meeting.

Portugal is one of the few countries with which Croatia has a trade surplus. :last year, Croatia exported to Portugal 54.4 million euro in goods and services, while imports from that country amounted to 33.6 million euro.

Grabar Kitarović thanked de Sousa for the support Portugal gave to the election of Croatian State Secretary Maja Marković as the executive director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), headquartered in Lisbon.

Grabar Kitarović is expected to return to Croatia on Tuesday morning.

More news about relations between Croatia and Portugal can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, May 13, 2018 - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović during the night between Saturday and Sunday attended Mass in the Portuguese shrine of Fatima where, as she said, in her thoughts "she was with everyone in Croatia."

ZAGREB, May 12, 2018 - Portugal is one of the few countries to which Croatia exports more than it imports from, heard a Portuguese-Croatia economic forum held on Friday in Lisbon, where about a hundred Croatian and Portuguese business people met to discuss mutual cooperation and possible joint ventures in former Portuguese colonies. The economic forum was held during a state visit by President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović to the country on the Iberian Peninsula.

ZAGREB, May 11, 2018 - The visiting Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and her Portuguese counterpart, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, met in Lisbon on Friday for the talks on deepening economic and education cooperation between the two countries.

ZAGREB, May 10, 2018 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is to conduct a two-day return state visit to Portugal on Friday and Saturday, following an invitation from her Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the president's office reported on Thursday in a press release.

Croatia faced Portugal in UEFA EURO 2016 in the last 16 in France, and extra-time was needed to determine the winner.

Usually, there are two possible outcomes when play-off stage matches are played, but Croatia is anything but ordinary.

Croatia head coach Ante Čačić and Fiorentina midfielder Milan Badelj spoke to the press on the eve of the Portugal encounter in Lens.