ZAGREB, January 22, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that the talks he held at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos were very useful for the strengthening of bilateral relations as well as for the positioning of Croatia on the global scene in the context of its current EU presidency.

"Yesterday and today we held a number of meetings... the talks in Davos were very useful, in terms of bilateral relations, our role regarding various topics and dossiers that are important for them in the context of Croatia's EU presidency and generally for our positioning in forums like this one," Plenković told Croatian reporters in Davos.

The Croatian PM on Tuesday attended two panels and held talks with a number of political officials and business people, and on Wednesday he met with French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno La Maire.

Before that meeting, he took part in the informal meeting "An ascendant Europe" on the topic of Europe's future, "the strengthening of its position and its role as one of the main stakeholders in global trade."

Plenković said that it was noted that the EU had to show leadership in global governance and do things that were in the interest of its companies and citizens, while taking into account social responsibility.

An overarching topic of the 50th World Economic Forum is social responsibility. The forum must take into account challenges such as climate change and topics that Croatia imposed in the European Council, such as the issue of demography and emigration of people from rural areas to urban ones and from less developed to more developed member states, said Plenković.

These topics were adopted in discussions held this year, which was not the case last year, said Plenković.

More politics news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, January 21, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday it was good that the focus of the Croatian EU presidency was on the countries of South-eastern Europe because the process of integration of these countries into the European Union was not a priority for the Union.

Plenković was speaking to Croatian reporters covering his attendance at the annual summit of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Together with leaders from Central and Eastern Europe, he participated in panels on diplomatic dialogue on the Western Balkans and on generating growth in Central and Eastern Europe, and held a number of bilateral meetings.

"I'm trying to calibrate the expectations of all our neighbours from the Croatian presidency of the EU this year because, realistically speaking, it is good that Croatia is putting the focus on the countries of South-eastern Europe given so many other important topics," Plenković said.

"If someone else was the president now, I doubt that this would be a topic, given Brexit and a new contractual relationship with the United Kingdom, a seven-year budget that is yet to be adopted, a conference on the future of Europe and the Green Deal package," he added.

Plenković said that the World Economic Forum was an excellent opportunity to talk to heads of state and government and leaders of international organisations, financial institutions and large companies that are interested in cooperation.

He said that during the EU presidency it was important to "dynamise relations between our neighbours and the European Union," expressing hope that the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Zagreb in May would be a success.

"There are quite great expectations from the Zagreb summit in May. It will be an opportunity, I hope, to unblock this situation with North Macedonia and Albania, take a step further and define the future relationship with all the countries in our neighbourhood in the next decade," the Croatian PM said.

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

ZAGREB, January 20, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković will attend the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Tuesday and Wednesday, during which he is due to hold a number of bilateral meetings with high-level international political and economic officials.

The summit meeting will focus on issues such as climate change, slowing global growth, trade wars, and conflicts and tensions in the Middle East, north Africa and east Asia.

The Croatian prime minister is scheduled to participate in three discussions, according to a government press release issued on Sunday.

On Tuesday, he will attend a meeting called "Dialogue on the Western Balkans", moderated by WEF President Borge Brende. Among those attending will be Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Šarec, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

On the same day, Plenković will attend a working meeting entitled "Generating Growth in Central and Eastern Europe", together with European Parliament President David Sassoli, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

Also on Tuesday, the Croatian prime minister will attend a formal dinner given by the WEF founder and executive chairman, Klaus Schwab.

On Wednesday, Plenković is scheduled to attend an informal meeting of global economic leaders.

This year's summit will gather together a number of heads of state or government, business leaders, activists and scientists, including US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

During his time in Davos, the Croatian prime minister is due to hold a number of bilateral meetings. He will meet with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

He is also scheduled to meet with the Secretary-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhan Ghebreyesus, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini, European Research Council President Mauro Ferrari, the Dean of INSEAD Singapore, Ilian Mihov, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Visa Europe CEO Charlotte Hogg, European Investment Bank President Alexander Stubb and Booking.com CEO Gillian Tans.

More foreign policy news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 25, 2019 - Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on Friday that Croatia and Serbia should have much better relations if they wanted to survive, adding that the entire region should stop thinking about the past and look forward.

"What I am not happy about are political relations in the region," Vučić told Hina and the Croatian public broadcaster HRT on the margins of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

"There are always countless problems there, too much thinking about the past and too little about the future, but I guess it's the characteristic of all of us and that's what we'll have to change," the Serbian president said.

Vučić earlier attended a panel on the Western Balkans together with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and had an opportunity to talk to him informally.

He said that economic relations were much better than the political situation in the region. "I think that the Serbs and Croats as nations, not just the Serbian and Croatian states, regardless of their emotions which are not always good, must have much better relations if they both want to survive," Vučić said.

He said that both countries had "terrible demographics" as many people were emigrating. "If we are to survive, we will have to work together, get closer to each other, and that will happen," Vučić said.

He added that the Croats and Serbs would find ways of cooperating once they started thinking less about "stabbing one another in the back" and became more focused on the future. "I absolutely believe in this," he stressed.

Vučić said that relations with Priština were a burning issue for Belgrade, and that the imposition by Kosovo of customs duties on imports from Serbia was against all European rules. He said that all important European and world stakeholders had told him in Davos that they were against Kosovo's move.

Speaking of other problems in the region, Vučić mentioned the latest initiative by the Bosniak SDA party in Bosnia and Herzegovina for assessment of the constitutionality of the name of Republika Srpska, the country's Serb entity.

Its name "is a Dayton category, it's a constitutional category of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They cannot do that and expect support from the world," the Serbian president said.

The announcement by the SDA that it will formally ask the Constitutional Court to assess whether the name of the Bosnian Serb entity is constitutional has met with strong reactions in the country and condemnation from the international community. SDA leader Bakir Izetbegović said on Thursday that it was a legitimate initiative the aim of which was to eliminate evident discrimination against non-Serbs living in Republika Srpska.

More news on the relations between Croatia and Serbia can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, January 25, 2019 - On the first day of the World Economic Forum meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković had a number of meetings with executives of global companies operating or interested in operating in Croatia.

Among them were the CEOs of DAMAC Group, Hoffmann-La Roche, Antofagasta Minerals and Marriott International, the vice-president of Coca-Cola, Google's president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the vice-president of Mastercard.

"At a forum like this, many global companies seek contact with leaders to see how they can help their companies to establish a presence in their country," Plenković told Croatian reporters.

He said that Google had shown interest in digitisation in Croatia, Coca-Cola wanted to make its contribution to social responsibility and Mastercard was interested in financial services. He said that the Marriott hotel chain was interested in establishing a presence in Croatia.

Plenković in particular singled out the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche, which has made it possible for 12 Croatian citizens suffering from spinal muscular atrophy to receive free treatment in Croatia during the clinical testing of its drug. "This was the result of last year's Davos, and now we are expanding the cooperation with them," he added.

Asked if last year's meetings with business executives in Davos had been productive, Plenković cited the example of Booking.com, saying that "it is doing an excellent job helping the Croatian tourist industry."

Talks with the Lukšić Group were also excellent last year. In addition to their presence in the tourism sector, they have also provided an excellent training programme for civil servants and the digitisation of public services, with emphasis on the healthcare system, he said.

On Thursday evening, the Croatian prime minister was due to meet with the Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Angel Gurria, and for the first time with the leader of the German CDU party and possible future Chancellor, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Plenković recalled that last year in Davos he had a number of meetings with prime ministers, adding that this year he wanted to hear first-hand what the Irish prime minister thought of Brexit.

The World Economic Forum has brought together political and business leaders from more than 100 countries, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. However, the leaders of the United States, France, the United Kingdom and China are not among the 3,000 participants.

More news on the Croatian politics can be found in our special section.

ZAGREB, January 26, 2018 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Davos on Thursday that multinational companies were interested in investing in Croatia, which he described as an investment-friendly country, the government said in a statement.

ZAGREB, January 25, 2018 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković arrived in Davos on Thursday to attend the traditional World Economic Forum, the Croatian government said in a press release.

ZAGREB, January 23, 2018 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković will take part in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday and Friday and hold a number of bilateral meetings with world political and business leaders.