Croatian and Romanian PMs discuss intensifying cooperation

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his visiting Romanian counterpart, Vasilica Viorica Dancila, met in Zagreb on Monday to discuss the forthcoming European Union presidency trio which includes Romania, Finland and Croatia, and announced the intensification of cooperation in that format

The EU will be chaired by Romania and Finland in 2019, and by Croatia in the first half of 2020.

Plenkovic and Dancila held a working meeting ahead of a two-day summit of the Central European Initiative (CEI) in the Croatian capital, which will mark the conclusion of Croatia's year-long presidency over the regional initiative.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, Plenkovic said that in recent days the trio had agreed a joint programme for the EU presidency. "We have agreed on the priorities for the next 18 month," he said.

We want to support each other both bilaterally and multilaterally, particularly during the EU presidency, when it comes to the accomplishment of our goal and that is joining the Schengen zone, Plenkovic said.

The two premiers also discussed the ongoing negotiations on the next EU multi-annual financial framework, with both Romania and Croatia having a strong interest in ensuring that sufficient funds were allocated for the cohesion and agricultural policies.

For us, as the youngest EU member, it is particularly important to see that inequalities in developments are reduced in all parts of Croatia, said Plenkovic.

At the Zagreb summit, Italy takes over the presidency of the CEI from Croatia.

The CEI was established in Budapest in 1989, and its current members are Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The CEI secretariat is located in Trieste.

Text: Hina



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