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“A strong Europe in a world of challenges” Croatia’s EU chairmanship – a historic moment for the country
by Dr Gordon Grlić Radman, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia, Zagreb
Croatia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union comes at a challenging and complex time for the EU, faced with numerous internal and external challenges such as terrorism, security, cyber and hybrid threats, migration, conflicts in our neighbourhood, disinformation, and the rise of populism. It is important that we adapt and build resilience to these. The best way to succeed is by working together. The EU Member States can best overcome the challenges of the 21st century through unity and strength. The further development of capabilities and instruments for common action is the only way to strengthen the Union’s leading role as a global actor and partner. Plenkovic said, “a more agile, coherent and outward looking European Union”, fit to proactively tackle all the challenges ahead. During our Presidency, we plan to focus on the areas where we feel that the EU can deliver the most, fostering a sense of unity, consensus and convergence. We shall strive to give further incentives to proposals and initiatives contributing to uniform and sustainable economic growth, increasing in convergence and strengthening the competiveness of the EU, promoting connectivity and enhancing the security of our citizens. We shall also continue to advocate the active role of the EU on the global scene and in its neighbourhood, especially our closest one in south-eastern Europe.
The EU as a strong global actor With the motto “A strong Europe in a world of challenges”, there will be four overarching priorities to our programme: a Europe that develops, a Europe that connects, a Europe that protects and an influential Europe. Within the framework of the fourth priority, “an influential Europe”, Croatia’s presidency will concentrate its work on further strengthening the EU as a united and strong global actor, partner and security provider with multilateralism and a rule based international order at its core. The EU is, to us, an actor that
is influential in international relations and a leader in promoting fundamental values and the projection of peace and security. It is also a partner that assists others in addressing global challenges and threats. Emphasis on the EU’s surroundings The emphasis will be on stability and security in the EU’s surroundings. Here the work will focus on supporting stability, security, resilience and reform efforts. In this regard, we shall be working on advancing enlargement as an investment in the security and stability of Europe and the resilience of Western Balkan countries. During Croatia’s presidency, we will organise The priorities of our EU presidency Strengthening multilateralism, implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and promoting European values and interests remain the main points of reference for the Union’s external action. Its credibility in international relations is reflected in its responsible approach towards its own neighbourhood, to the east and south, as well as towards countries in south-eastern Europe. The Croatian Presidency of the Council of the EU will strive for a continued credible and consistent enlargement policy, as an investment in the stability and security of the European continent. This will also strengthen the EU’s leading role in the neighbourhood. The role of the EU Presidency is very dear to us, not only because it means leading the Council’s work, but most importantly because it also represents the success of Croatia’s own European path. As a country that has suffered war and aggression, we have managed to recover, reform and develop to the point that we will take leadership of the EU Council. This makes us particularly proud. Being at the helm of the EU for the first time will be an opportunity for Croatia to shape, jointly with our partners, as Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Dr Gordon Grlić Radman has been the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia since mid-2019. He was born in 1958 and studied agriculture economics, and later international relations, at the University of Zagreb where he obtained a PhD in 2007. Mr Radman started his professional career in business in Switzerland (1984–1991). He then served in different embassies and became Ambassador of Croatia to Hungary in 2012 and in 2017 Ambassador to Germany. Since 2017, he has been the President of the Danube Commission seated in Budapest.
Photo: Foreign Affairs Ministry, Croatia
an EU-Western Balkans Summit in May 2020 in Zagreb. This socalled enlargement summit is even more important because we will define what we want in the next decade - the method, the pace, the political and security messages we wish to send to south-eastern Europe. Croatia will advocate for a revitalisation and strengthening of the EU’s prospects for south-eastern Europe, based on complete fulfilment of the membership criteria. Furthermore, our priorities lie in the EU Neighbourhood - to the east and south. Here we intend to work on strengthening cooperation with Eastern European partners in the framework of Eastern Partnership policy. The Eastern Partnership summit during our Presidency will be dedicated to defining post-2020 priorities and objectives. As a Mediterranean country, we place particular emphasis on security and stability in the southern Mediterranean region, Africa and the Middle East. We believe it is important that the EU joins efforts with international partners to resolve crises and address the challenges in these regions. The Presidency believes it is important that the EU engages in addressing the consequences of crises and conflicts through our support to peaceful, inclusive and democratic solutions, sustainable development, as well as to humanitarian, stabilisation and reconstruction efforts. Particular emphasis should be put on addressing the challenges of migration, countering terrorism, radicalisation and violent extremism.
Strengthening international partnerships We shall continue to work on promoting transatlantic relations and strengthening the partnership with North America. With regard to Asia, efforts will continue to improve connectivity in all its aspects – economic, infrastructural, digital, and human. Work on the strengthening and deepening of the Alliance with Africa has to continue, especially when it comes to addressing common threats and challenges, including migration. The focus should be on youth. Our presidency will also work on strengthening strategic partnerships with Latin America. Here we expect that particular attention will be given to helping countries by addressing the migration pressure.
Security and defence When it comes to security and defence, we have placed our priorities broadly around four areas. First, work should continue on further implementation, consolidation and coherence of security and defence initiatives (PESCO, CARD, military mobility, EDF), while ensuring complementarity with NATO. Second, we lay particular emphasis on further strengthening EU-NATO cooperation, especially by working together with partners in the Western Balkans and developing their capacity building to be able to withstand threats and challenges on their own. Third, we believe that efforts to strengthen the EU’s defence industry and the development of a European defence technological and industrial base must continue. Here we put particular emphasis on strengthening the role of SMEs and research capabilities. And last but not least, we plan to continue work on further strengthening the civilian Common Security and Defence Policy, to enable the EU to respond to crises in a more capable, efficient, responsive and integrated way.
Enhance dialogue and avoid divisions Croatia’s priorities have been attentively chosen to address the challenges the European Union is facing today. In today’s complex setting, Croatia is confident in taking an important role at the helm of the joint European project in further building a strong Europe in a challenging world. Croatia is dedicated to conducting its presidency as a mediator and builder of compromise based on shared values and respect for mutual interests between Member States: by enhancing dialogue, promoting consensus, and seeking compromise rather than creating divisions.
