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| Andrej Plenkovic |
According to him, Croatia's experience says that when negotiating, the next step is not immediately seen, the economic management that, according to him, is currently not sufficiently visible in the accession negotiations.
The Croatian Prime Minister added that from the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Zagreb next May, he wants to deliver two important messages, the first is the systematical meetings at all Summits and the second to do everything in the methodology for accession in the Union, as this serves as a greater incentive for candidate countries.
On January 1, Croatia assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union from Finland, six and a half years after joining the union.
The Croatian presidency will officially begin on January 9th, when members of the European Commission will head to Zagreb and a concert on that occasion will be held at the Croatian National Theater.
A concert will also be held in Brussels on January 15th to mark the start of the Croatian presidency, and this will coincide with the anniversaries of Croatia's international recognition on January 15th, 1992.
On January 9, Zagreb will host a European Commission meeting under the chairmanship of President Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU presidency is also seen as an opportunity to make Croatian society more sensitive to union themes.
"A strong Europe in a world of challenges" is the slogan that Croatia has chosen for its presidency.
Its EU presidency program is based on four pillars: An evolving Europe; A Connecting Europe; A defending Europe and an influential Europe.
In the next six months, around 1,400 meetings will be held at various levels and most will take place in Brussels.