The Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, was the keynote speaker at the opening of a two-day international conference marking five years of Croatia's EU membership.

Croatia’s achievements during its five years of EU membership were “very solid,” Plenkovic said and added that since 2013 the country’s economy had been growing again.

“We are growing economically. We have a low unemployment rate and, consequently, a higher employment rate, better credit rating, and a budget surplus. We have become active participants in the European institutions,” he said.

The best symbol of the advantages of EU membership is the Peljesac Bridge, which the EU will co-finance with €375 million, Plenkovic said, adding that the real financial benefits of EU membership, as well as Croatia’s position within the EU, will become more obvious around 2023, after 10 years of membership.

Croatia was lagging behind other Central and Eastern European countries which joined the EU in 2004 (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia). They benefited from Western Europe’s expansion enthusiasm, while Croatia was “practically on hold,” the Prime Minister said, adding that it was not until 2014 that Croatia finally reached the level of growth it had in 1990.

Croatia was alone in its EU negotiations, Plenkovic said. There was a condition to cooperate with the Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, and the country had to deal with unjustified meddling in unrelated bilateral issues which set the country back five years.

“With all due respect, no one said ‘sorry.’ No one has apologised to me for that yet,” he said, adding that Slovenia was not the only one responsible for that.

Plenkovic named two major objectives of Croatia’s European policy: joining the Schengen Area, which he said was something the country should technically be prepared for by the end of the next year, and introduction of the euro over a longer period of time.