PM Plenkovic opened Dubrovnik Forum 2017

Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Saturday opened the 12th Dubrovnik Forum by calling for the integration of the entire Southeast Europe with the European Union, on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of Croatia's accession to the bloc, which he said had brought significant benefits to the country even though its absorption of EU funds could be better.

The EU is faced with a major instability belt in its neighbourhood, in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, and today's threats are much more pronounced than those of ten years ago considering migrations, terrorism, hybrid warfare and radicalisation, Plenkovic said in his opening remarks.

All those threats also affect Southeast Europe, Plenkovic said at the opening of the Dubrovnik Forum which this year focuses on security and stability in the Mediterranean, economy and environment and intercultural dialogue, education and the youth.

An area that throughout its history connected continents and peoples, the Mediterranean today is a space of political and economic insecurity due to the wars in the Middle East, instability in Libya and violent conflicts in the sub-Saharan Africa, and various forms of crime. All that generates the refugee and migrant crisis to which Europe did not have a response for a long time, he said.

"Croatia will be one of the leading countries to explain the benefits of EU enlargement," said Plenkovic.

He believes that one should work on raising awareness in the EU of the advantages of the European integration process and that the pace of enlargement should be stepped up.

Plenkovic recalled that the European Council in March this year adopted, for the first time in nine years, conclusions on Southeast Europe, and he expressed satisfaction with the Berlin Process whose next meeting would be held in Trieste on July 12. That, he said, could be an opportunity to compensate for the slow pace of the integration process.

The best way of avoiding a crisis of the EU is to expound the advantages of European policies and become engaged in "an active competition against populism" and anti-systemic political parties, PM Plenkovic said.

He underlined the importance of "the strong, major infrastructure" Peljesac Bridge project, to be financed mostly with EU funds.

PM Plenkovic expressed satisfaction that the chairmanship of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP), a forum promoting cooperation and connectivity in Southeast Europe, was taken over on Friday by Slovenia, an EU country that would help other countries in the region in the integration process.

Text: Hina

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