Assertive, but respectful, in protecting all the values we represent

In addition to the Prime Minister, the panel was attended by Jens Stoltenberg, Minister of Finance of Norway, Priti Patel, Member of Parliament and Shadow Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, and Franziska Brantner, Co-Chair of the Alliance 90/The Greens group.

Prime Minister Plenković stressed that the issue of European values ​​and identity is a key issue in shaping a new world order. As someone who comes from a political party with a center-right political philosophy, the European People's Party, he highlighted four main values.

The first is democracy, he said, adding that democracy today connects all European nations and that is why we are part of a free world.

The second is the rule of law, and the third is the protection of human rights, which is key to everything we do and equality among all our peoples and citizens, he said.

In addition, the fourth, especially important for the center-right, is Christian roots.

Cooperative approach to international relations

In addition to these values, an important element is the stance that Europe has towards international relations, he emphasized, adding that the main stance of Europe is a cooperative approach.

In this context, he said that the current world order is fundamentally based on two approaches. The first are democracies, which have a cooperative approach to international relations, and the second are authoritarian regimes that unfortunately apply a conflict approach.

"That is the main difference and this is where the problems of the world today arise", he said.

The common European values ​​that we share, said Prime Minister Plenković, are applied in Croatia in the concept of modern sovereignty, which implies strengthening the country's international position in all possible ways, institutional, political, economic, geo-economic, strategic and energy, which in turn strengthens the well-being and prosperity of Croatian citizens and all economic entities in the country.

"If you succeed in this combination, you make a big jump forward for your society," emphasized Prime Minister Plenković.

Democratic resilience to challenges and threats

When asked about external threats to European values, the Prime Minister pointed out that, in his opinion, the most important political event that has affected the whole of Europe occurred ten years ago when the unprecedented migration crisis changed the political scene across Europe.

That crisis affected every member state and strengthened political parties that were at the poles of the political spectrum, he added.

“Mainstream parties had to react. Everyone gradually became more restrictive towards migration. Because if no one does it, they will not get any support from voters,” he said, adding that we are still living the consequences of that event every day.

Another important aspect is the incredibly rapid progress of technology. Namely, he added, the key issue is how the amount of time wasted on unnecessary content by children today will affect their worldview in 15-20 years.

The third element is the external influence on our societies, through the classic media, opinion makers, commentators, analysts and experts, online sources and unreliable websites.

“In my opinion, external influence on the democratic process, wherever it comes from, is present. We can be very sure that in the future it will be even stronger than it is today,” he said.

He added that our democratic resilience is a test that we must endure and fulfill and be the voice of truth, facts and reason, regardless of which political spectrum we come from, which is a huge and difficult task.

“And, in my opinion, this is the biggest, I would not say threat, but challenge that we must work on”, he said.

Solidarity is the most important value that brings us together

Responding to a question from a Ukrainian MP about how he sees the Europe of the future, Prime Minister Plenković highlighted solidarity as one of the fundamental values.

Namely, he said, the European Union was created as an economic integration project, based on the rule of law, which is key.

Today, it is clearly strengthening its defense capabilities and becoming a different organization compared to what it was, for example, 20 years ago.

"The main point where the soft power of the European Union is key is the implementation of the most important value, which is solidarity," he said.

He added that solidarity is visible in every single policy of the European Union, in the budget, agriculture, cohesion, regional development, foreign policy, including aid to Ukraine.

"That is perhaps the most important value that brings us together," the Prime Minister emphasized, adding that without solidarity, the entire concept might have collapsed long ago.

In the context of European solidarity, Prime Minister Plenković once again expressed his support for Ukraine on this occasion, saying that he was particularly pleased that the Security Conference last night awarded the Ukrainian people in deep recognition of their courage, sacrifice and unwavering determination to defend their freedom and the freedom of all of Europe.

Transatlantic relations are going in a better direction

At the end of the discussion, he referred to transatlantic relations between the European Union and the United States.

He believes, he emphasized, that they are going in a better direction today than before, and this was especially felt in the atmosphere at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos and these days at the conference in Munich.

Pragmatism and solidarity among all members of the European Union on this issue is more than clear, he added.

Europe, Prime Minister Plenković believes, needs to be assertive when it comes to its values ​​and interests, which need to be formulated in a respectful manner, which he assessed as one of the main European determinants.

"Assertive, but respectful, in protecting what we represent," he said, concluding that he believes that things will gradually develop in the direction preferred by democracies.