We must defend democracy, stop illegal migration, reduce energy dependence, strengthen defense and competitiveness

Yesterday, he spoke with Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset about the security challenges facing Europe today, from the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East to migration and hybrid threats.

"Of special importance to us is the stability of the Western Balkans and our immediate neighborhood, the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the continuation of reforms and changes to the electoral legislation in order to ensure the equality of the three constituent nations," Plenković told Berset.

Further strengthening of bilateral relations through stronger trade exchange, investments, tourism and cooperation in the field of education, science and culture was the focus of the conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Odilovich Saidov, and in this sense intensive political dialogue and increasingly strong economic cooperation were highlighted.

Managing New Realities in the Age of Multipolarity

Today, the Prime Minister participated in a panel entitled "The Age of Multipolarity: Managing New Realities", together with the Vice-President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Italian Republic Antonio Tajani, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset, and the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu.

When asked if this was the most challenging time in his long tenure as one of the longest-serving prime ministers in Europe, Prime Minister Plenković said that the last few years have indeed been full of crises and challenges in the international community.

He considers one of the major challenges to be the lack of respect for international law, which has shaken the international order as a concept.

The second challenge is the conflictual approach to global governance emanating from the largest and most influential countries in the world.

Strengthening the EU in terms of defense, security and economy

The third challenge is the simultaneous social, economic, energy and security pressures, which require bold and rapid decisions that are sometimes completely outside the political philosophies of the government, he said, explaining this using the example of Croatia.

Namely, the principles that normally guide the government are a free market and a market economy with as little state interference as possible, but due to various crises that intertwined at the same time, the state had to act interventionist in order to preserve the economy and social cohesion.

Another element that has become a major problem is the weaponization of trade policies and customs, warned Prime Minister Plenković, advocating for resolving these issues at the bilateral level, but also in a multilateral sense.

Therefore, Croatia's position, as a smaller member state, is that the European Union needs to be strengthened, in terms of defense and security, and in terms of economic competitiveness.

Croatia exceeds 2 percent of GDP for defense with huge investments in modernization

Speaking about defense investments, especially in the context of the transatlantic partnership, Prime Minister Plenković emphasized that Croatia has already achieved the existing NATO pledge to invest 2 percent of GDP in the country's defense capabilities.

Of this amount, he added, as much as 34 percent goes to the modernization of equipment and technology.

As for further increases in allocations, in accordance with NATO's new goal, he said, we have a clearly projected plan to reach 3.5 percent of defense allocations by 2035 with 1.5 percent for defense-related activities.

In order to achieve this, the Prime Minister emphasized, we primarily need to work on strengthening the economy, and the Croatian economy has been growing steadily and continuously for 21 consecutive quarters.

Therefore, we have enough fiscal space to increase defense investments, he added.

Regarding transatlantic relations in terms of defense, the Prime Minister said that there is a clear operational plan on the part of the US to partially withdraw some troops from Europe, which is certainly a consequence of certain actions of individual allies during the conflict in the Middle East.

However, he believes that the general tone is currently more positive than it was before, which was particularly visible at the last G7 summit.

In this sense, he advocated for an agreement on customs and trade, because he believes that this is precisely where the main problem in the relations lies.

Russia's aggression against Ukraine was a wake-up call for allies

As for strengthening defense capabilities, the Prime Minister believes that Putin's aggression against Ukraine did more to arm allies and strengthen defense capabilities than they did themselves.
 
"It was a wake-up call for everyone," he emphasized, adding that the feeling from 2022 that we are all protected by Article 5 and that further investments in defense are not a priority has disappeared.

The Prime Minister believes that each country should first strengthen its capabilities, and then invest efforts in strengthening allied relations. In this sense, he added, we should find a way to cooperate more closely with the United States, while strengthening European defense at the same time.

The transatlantic partnership has brought so much good to the Western world, so we must cherish it and we must not abandon it, the Prime Minister said.

If there are shortcuts to EU membership, then they must apply to everyone

During the discussion on further enlargement of the European Union, Prime Minister Plenković stressed that Croatia, as the youngest member, has an excellent perspective that it can share with other members.

Unlike in previous years, he stressed, there is now a will in European institutions for further enlargement.

Firstly, member states feel the need to give Ukraine something in terms of a European perspective. Maybe not full membership, he explained, but something that could politically help President Zelensky and the Ukrainian leadership, especially given the fact that NATO membership is not on the table.

Secondly, as for a possible change in the approach to membership, which was previously based on individual merit, it must apply to all candidate countries, especially in the region of Southeastern Europe. If there are shortcuts, then they must apply to everyone, he stressed.

The Prime Minister said that Bosnia and Herzegovina is strategically important for Croatia, advocating for further progress on its European path.

He personally believes that the European Union has neglected this region for too long, he said, and welcomed the more positive atmosphere felt towards the membership of these countries.

Europe in a new era

At the end of the debate, the Prime Minister was asked whether he believed that Europe was ready for a new era.

We are better equipped than before, he argued, emphasizing that the most important thing is to preserve European democracy from negative external influences.

Then, we need to continue the fight against illegal migration, because no other issue has changed the political landscape of the European Union member states to such an extent.

In addition, it is crucial to reduce energy dependence and strengthen renewable energy sources.And finally, he said, we must strengthen defense and security and the competitiveness of the economy.