Good relations between Slovak and Croatian peoples are built on historical ties and friendship

Today was an opportunity to once again put the bilateral relations between our countries in the focus, to state that political cooperation and good relations between Croatia and Slovakia are strengthening even further, and building on historical ties and friendship, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said after a meeting with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico. He added that they used the meeting to reiterate their support for Ukraine, which is a victim of Russian aggression.

PM Plenković particularly emphasized the trade exchange, which has made great progress and now amounts to more than 1.5 billion euros and is a pledge of strengthening economic relations.
 
He also expressed satisfaction that as many as 530,000 Slovak tourists stayed in Croatia last year.
 
Croatia is a regional energy hub
 
PM Plenković stated that he and Prime Minister Fico discussed the overall situation in Europe, as well as energy cooperation.
 
He reiterated that Croatia, with its oil and liquefied natural gas terminals on the island of Krk, is a regional energy hub and that this ensures the diversification of supply routes for both oil and gas.
 
"I am pleased that part of the oil, which is processed in the refinery in Bratislava, is transported to Slovakia via the Adriatic Pipeline," said Plenković.
 
He added that next year the capacity of the LNG terminal in Omišalj would increase from the current 3.1 to 6.1 billion cubic meters of gas per year. In this context, he emphasized more than 530 million euros investments in gas pipelines throughout Croatia. 
 
"We will enable both larger and faster transport of gas that will arrive at the terminal and thus ensure the possibility of different supply routes for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe," he added.
 
PM Plenković also highlighted the multi-year agreement in the field of culture signed today, thanking the Minister of Culture and Media, Nina Obuljen Koržinek, for her preparation.
 
Support for the Slovak minority in Croatia and the Croatian minority in Slovakia
 
Plenković referred to the position of the Slovak minority in Croatia, saying that it is of good quality and that the Croatian Government, through operational programs for national minorities, the Council for National Minorities, and the Office for Human Rights and National Minorities, supports their numerous activities related to identity, culture, education, and tradition.
 
He thanked the Prime Minister of the Slovak Government, Robert Fico, for the support he provides to the Croatian minority in Slovakia, especially for the programs that the Slovak Government provides for the preservation of the identity of Croats living in Slovakia.

Croatia takes over the presidency of the Three Seas Initiative
 
Prime Minister Plenković said that he and his Slovak counterpart also discussed the negotiations on the new seven-year budgetary framework, because, he stressed, Croatia and Slovakia are very interested in the part of the budget that will relate to cohesion and agricultural policy in the period 2028-2034.
 
"We would like Croatia and Slovakia to be significantly represented because we are still in the phase of catching up with those who founded the EU or entered it earlier, lived in democracies and had a much different economic dynamics and development," said Plenković.
 
He referred to the Three Seas Initiative - the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, saying that at the end of this month in Warsaw, Croatia will take over the chairmanship of the initiative from Poland.

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