Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that the documents on tourism and transport adopted by the European Commission were extremely important, and that the discussion about them had been initiated by Croatia and him personally.
Ahead of an inner cabinet meeting Plenkovic said it was on Croatia's and his own initiative that the discussion started at the European Council about the fact that a large number of EU member states consider tourism as an important industry.
He was thus pleased, he added, that the European Commission presented proposals for member states on what to do concerning the coronavirus pandemic weakening at the global and national levels.
Croatia soon to organise new meeting of EU tourism ministers
"... Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli will organise in the coming days, as he has done before, a new meeting of EU tourism ministers, following the release of the European Commission's documents, so that they could agree on operational implementation," Plenkovic said.
He assessed that it was important for Croatia to reactivate, by relaxing restrictions, its economy as much as possible, including tourism, and that to that end the measures introduced to facilitate crossing the borders for business reasons would also increasingly serve to revitalise tourism.
"Croatia's talks with neighbouring countries that are equally successful in fighting COVID-19 serve a similar purpose," Plenkovic said.
Asked which countries Croatia had talked to about cooperation in tourism and when the first tourists might arrive, he said that they were in talks with "many" countries.
"The tourism minister is talking to his colleagues, and I talked to a large number of prime ministers - in Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany and in a score of other interested countries," Plenkovic said.
Croatia is more than an attractive destination for all those who know us, and it is in our interest that the tourists who arrive act the same as Croatian citizens in the coronacrisis, that is, be extremely responsible, said the PM.
The European Commission recommended on Wednesday a gradual and coordinated lifting of travel restrictions between member states or regions within them that have similar epidemiological situations in order to salvage as much of the tourist season as possible.
The EC released guidelines and recommendations, which are not binding on member states, but can help to lift the travel restrictions in a coordinated way and to gradually activate the tourism sector after several months of complete standstill caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
PM: EBRD's projections show Croatian public finances are resilient
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that the projections by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Croatia's GDP this and next year show that Croatian public finances were orderly and resilient.
"The forecasts released today by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are more favourable than the government's and those released by the European Commission. This means that the EBRD assessed that Croatia had met the crisis and the external shock much more resilient and ready in terms of public finance management than ever before," Plenkovic said ahead of a cabinet meeting.
He added that Croatia "has led the battle against COVID very well" and that he could say it "has won at this stage of the pandemic" in comparison with other countries.
Croatian economy will see a decline of 7% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but in 2021 there should be a quick recovery at a rate of 6%, the EBRD estimated in its spring forecast.
We are working on application to track coronavirus patients
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that in line with an agreement between EU member states, Croatia had been working for weeks on an application to track people infected with the coronavirus, and one of the companies working on the app was APIS.
He also underscored that the privacy of citizens would be entirely protected.
"New technology enables a lot more than was possible without it. At the moment Croatia is working on an application, that is, the IT specialists we have hired. When everything is done, we will let you know," Plenkovic told reporters ahead of an inner cabinet meeting.
As for the dissolution of parliament, which is unofficially rumoured to happen next Monday or Friday, he said that this was one of the topics to be discussed at a meeting of the parliamentary majority on Thursday.
Bill on post-quake reconstruction of Zagreb to be put to public consultation
Regarding the bill on the reconstruction of Zagreb following the March 22 earthquake, Plenkovic said that the bill would be put to public consultation today afternoon or tomorrow before a government session, as agreed by all relevant ministries, as well as the City of Zagreb and representatives of numerous associations and professions.
"Our goal is that the law, given its significance, is put to a serious and thorough public consultation and that we are open to suggestions that can improve it," Plenkovic said.
"An earthquake with such a large number of damaged buildings requires a comprehensive approach. We want the laws we pass to be of good quality and to be a framework for action in the long run, and not to pass laws in the short term which might not be good enough. That is why we have decided in agreement with Mayor Bandic to put it to public consultation," Plenkovic said.
Text: Hina
News
