Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said in his speech in Zagreb on Sunday night that by joining the European Union, Croatia "is not running away" and that it is staying where it is, "albeit with a new responsibility".
"It is up to us to reach out to the countries in the region and assist them in the fast adoption of the European criteria," the Croatian premier said in his speech during the central ceremony marking Croatia's entry into the Union on 1 July.
As for Croatia and its neighbourhood, he said that "there are unbreakable bonds between us and these countries and nations. The most sublime one is the unity in the antifascist struggle during WWII. We are also tied together by upholding the values of solidarity and love of freedom, which we want to imprint strongly on the fundamental concept of the European Union."
"On the other hand, Croatia and Serbia, Montenegro, even Bosnia and Hercegovina, drifted apart in the war events of the 1990s. In that war, Croatia proved its dedication to freedom. In retrospect, we are aware of the stumbling that happened along that path, a path that had no alternative. In its very essence, it was a just one, and the right path to take," Milanovic said during the ceremony that drew over 170 high-ranking guests from abroad as well as several thousand Croatians.
"Croatia chose to be the bridge to a better future for the region in which the European strivings, with the highest of minority national rights protection, represent the most efficient means of overcoming the trauma of the past."
As for the Croatian identity, the premier said "it is composed of many, sometimes even contradictory, elements. One of them is the Central European, and generally Western civilisational influence that, perhaps crucially, permeates all aspects of our society."
"The Balkans, which is a term containing Oriental influences, is an important and unavoidable element of our identity and history. The bitter-sweet Mediterranean, the cradle of civilisation, was always our link to the world, and the first source of our humanistic ideals," he said in this context.
"We are deeply convinced, and this makes the night a joyous one, that the European Union and all its member states will be open toward experiencing Croatia's specificities as an integral part of their own magnificently diverse identity."
He mentioned Nikola Tesla, Andrija Stampar, Ivo Andric, Antun and Faust Vrancic, Lavoslav Ruzicka, Ivan Mestrovic, Rudjer Boskovic, Vladimir Prelog, Marko Marulic, Julije Klovic, as "the greatest figures of Croatian culture and science, who are also important figures in the history of the modern world.
They give us the right to believe that we are not presumptuous or conceited in our ambitions, Milanovic said.
"To my mind, the most important strategic project of the Republic of Croatia in the united Europe is to develop and encourage intellectual curiosity. That is a project involving the whole country and all its citizens. The keys to a more free and fulfilled life are in the elementary schools, in secondary schools and universities. It is a lasting commitment of this country and of the Union we are joining tonight, to make these keys as available as possible to all people, disregarding their social status, nationality, religion or origin. That is the prerequisite for our wish to build a country of happy people who will live and express themselves in accordance with their beliefs and the free perception of their own identity," the Croatian premier said.
(Hina)
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