Europe Day marked in Zagreb

It is important that Croatia, as the youngest EU member state, develops the idea of peace, cooperation and unity and that this peace project remains strong, despite the crisis caused by Brexit, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday on the occasion of Europe Day.

PM Plenkovic underscored the importance of the result of the presidential runoff in France, won by pro-European candidate Emmanuel Macron, saying that this was a message of encouragement. It is a good thing that a founder country at this particular moment sends out a message about the strengthening of the European project, the Croatian prime minister said.

PM Plenkovic recalled that Victory Day was also observed today.

"Croatia, as a responsible country of democratic values with 25 years of international recognition, is an important part of the modern democratic world and, of course, Europe," Plenkovic said.

Commenting on Italy's decision of Wednesday to temporarily suspend the Schengen regime at its external borders over the G7 summit in Taormina, which is also expected to be attended by US President Donald Trump, Plenkovic said this was the result of terrorist attacks in Europe, stressing that some kind of a systematic border check was necessary.

Europe Day is an annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe. It is also known as Schuman Day and celebrates a historic declaration by French foreign minister Robert Schuman on May 9, 1950. The Schuman Declaration proposed the pooling of French and West German coal and steel industries, leading to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the first European Community, and hence is considered a principal founding moment.

Text: Hina

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