Plenkovic raises issue of demographic revival at EU summit

Croatia Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday attended a summit of 27 EU leaders in Sibiu, Romania, and raised the issue of EU support for countries that have a negative population growth, with Croatia being one of them.

"There are seven or eight member states that have a negative population growth and Croatia is one of them. The strategic agenda for the coming period, whose draft was discussed at the summit, contains a section that is related to employment, social justice and social measures. In that context, we suggested that in further elaborating (the agenda) one should take into account possible support at the EU level for the process of demographic revitalisation as a measure complementary to those being undertaken at the national level," Plenkovic told reporters after the summit.

He added that his proposal was well received. "When you present numbers and explain what is going on, everyone understands the situation. I think that we will slowly create a circle of countries that are in that category and that is why it is good that we had time for further elaboration in a somewhat less formal environment," Plenkovic said.

All new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe have a negative population growth while four are experiencing stagnation, with the same number of births and deaths. Croatia loses a town the size of Makarska each year with the difference between births and deaths.

The leaders of the EU's 27 member states adopted at their informal summit in Sibiu a declaration that underlines their joint commitment to maintaining the unity of the bloc and upholding its principles of democracy, the rule of law and equity, and to protecting their citizens.

Text: Hina

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