In Zagreb, prime ministers Plenković and Meloni discussed, among other things, bilateral and economic relations between Croatia and Italy, illegal migration, temporary border controls and the expansion of the European Union.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković met today in Banski dvori the Prime Minister of the Italian Republic Giorgia Meloni, who was on a two-day official visit to Croatia.
In joint statements to the media, Prime Minister Plenković said that Giorgia Meloni is the first Italian Prime Minister to visit Croatia bilaterally in more than twenty years, which he assessed as an excellent signal for the improvement of Croatian-Italian relations.
He emphasized that Italy is Croatia's first trade partner and is one of the five largest investors in Croatia in the past thirty years.
Last year, the two countries had an exchange of almost nine billion euros, and according to Prime Minister Plenković, it could be even bigger this year.
The prime ministers discussed the political relations between the two countries, which were assessed as very good.
There was also talk about the protection of the Italian minority in Croatia and the Croatian minority in Italy. Around 14,000 Italians live in Croatia, while 60,000 Croats live in Italy. Plenković emphasized that they represent strong links between the two countries.
He thanked Prime Minister Meloni for Italy's support during Croatia's accession to the Schengen Area and the Eurozone, as well as now that Croatia is conducting negotiations for accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which could happen in the first few months of 2026.
As the Prime Minister said, they also touched on the more intense illegal migration that Italy is particularly faced with.
They also discussed Italy's decision to introduce temporary border controls with Slovenia after Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel and the growing threat of terrorism and extremism in Western Europe, which resulted in Slovenia's decision on a temporary regime with Croatia.
Prime Minister Plenković expressed his wish that this temporary regime would not last long and that in the meantime the cooperation of the Croatian, Italian and Slovenian police would further intensify.
Plenković and Meloni also discussed cooperation in the field of transport, and the prime minister considers it important to complete the Mediterranean corridors in order to further connect Croatia and Italy, especially with ferry lines.
There was also talk about the additional strengthening of cooperation in the Adriatic basin, which can be manifested in the field of energy, because both Croatia and Italy are both energy hubs.
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