Presenting the government’s annual report to Parliament today, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković stated that Croatia advocates for European Union enlargement, provided that candidate countries meet the necessary criteria.
“We advocate for European Union enlargement, but also for candidate countries to meet the criteria,” Plenković said, according to Hina.
There are currently nine candidate countries: Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia.
Croatia’s neighbor, Montenegro, is the frontrunner in the enlargement process, having made the most progress of all candidate countries.
Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman stated on Monday that Zagreb is not blocking Montenegro’s progress in accession negotiations but is insisting on adherence to the fundamental principles upon which the EU is built.
Ukraine was granted EU candidate status in June 2022, a few months after the Russian invasion; meanwhile, leaders from eight Nordic and Baltic countries, meeting at a regional summit in Tallinn this June, expressed support for Ukraine’s “irreversible path” toward NATO and for Kyiv’s accession to the European Union “in the shortest possible time.”
However, support for Ukraine’s imminent EU membership has declined among the bloc’s member states—even as a majority of Ukrainians continue to favor accelerated accession—according to survey results from the Bertelsmann Foundation reported by the German news agency dpa earlier on Tuesday. Plenković stated that Croatia supports Ukraine “just as it has supported it since the beginning of Russian aggression.”
He emphasized that Croatia is not isolated from profound global changes and is currently undertaking the most significant military modernization since the Homeland War.
“We plan to increase defense spending to three percent of GDP by 2030, and to five percent for defense and defense-related investments by 2035,” Plenković said, adding that 2.06 percent of GDP is currently allocated to defense.
As examples of defense investments, Plenković cited the acquisition of 12 Rafale fighter jets, Black Hawk helicopters, Bayraktar drones, Bradley fighting vehicles, and Patria vehicles.
“The procurement of Leopard 2A8 tanks, HIMARS and Chunmoo missile systems, Caesar howitzers, and anti-drone systems is underway,” the Croatian Prime Minister added, also announcing the acquisition of two multi-purpose corvettes for the Navy.
Plenković also addressed the issue of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, describing them—alongside the neighboring country’s European integration path—as “enduring priorities” of Croatian foreign policy.
“We support the construction of the Croatian National Theatre in Mostar—which nurtures the identity of the Croat people in BiH—as well as the University of Mostar (the only university outside Croatia operating in the Croatian language) and the work of the University Clinical Hospital Mostar, which serves hundreds of thousands of people,” Plenković pointed out.
Emphasizing his commitment to the equality of the Croat people and their legitimate political representation in BiH, Plenković welcomed the election of Darijana Filipović to the BiH Presidency.
“This will certainly contribute to the smoother functioning of institutions and the equality of all three constituent peoples,” he added.
He stated that Croatia looks after the status of Croats in countries where they constitute a minority—”particularly in Serbia”—and is building Croatian centers, such as those in Subotica and the cultural center in Donja Lastva, Montenegro, which was returned to the Croatian community.
The Croatian Prime Minister noted that the budget allocated for Croats living outside Croatia has been increased from 16 million to 203 million euros annually.
