Plenković for CNN: EU-US dialogue should embody partnership and trust between allies

Photo /Vijesti/2025/Sijecanj/23_sijecnja/intervju_cnn.jpg

During his participation in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was a guest on CNN. In an interview with Richard Quest, he addressed several current global topics, from efforts to end the war in Ukraine to economic relations between the US and the European Union, following the arrival of the new Donald Trump administration.

He pointed out that he met with Ukrainian President Zelensky in Davos and expressed support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people in their heroic fight for freedom.
 
Russian aggression, he added, caused not only immense tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but also dire economic and energy consequences for everyone else.
 
Support for Ukraine, he emphasized, should be strong because only a strengthened Ukraine can be a very good negotiating partner.
 
He referred to the announcements of US President Trump, emphasizing that everyone is waiting for some more complete initiatives.
 
He believes that high-level meetings need to be well prepared, and they will only be well prepared if Ukraine is at the table, if the European Union is at the table, if the United States of America provides the initiative and impulse, and, of course, if Russia is at the table.
 
This is not a simple situation, he argued, because if it were, it would have been resolved by now.
 
Prime Minister Plenković said that the narrative they heard today during president Trump's address at the World Economic Forum was largely a repetition of his inaugural speech and that it reflected everything that President Trump said in his long lasting campaign.
 
A pragmatic relationship for mutual benefit of the EU and the United States
 
"But also, we now have experience. We have worked together for four years; I was also the Prime Minister during his first tenure. And I think that the European Union is now in a position to find a pragmatic relationship that will be beneficial for both sides," the Prime Minister said.
 
Prime Minister Plenković also stated that Europe has many advantages.
 
"Many European companies export to the US, there are many partnerships of companies that are registered and create jobs in the US, so I think that once we establish a dialogue, it should embody partnership and trust of allies," he said.
 
He stated that both the United States and Europe are prospering and that growth is expected to be higher this year than the last.
 
"Croatia is a country that has had four times the average growth of the European Union and the eurozone, so we have made progress on the path to catching up with others and we want to contribute to that partnership," the Prime Minister concluded.

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