PM Plenkovic to attend EPP meeting in Helsinki

Ivo Cagalj/PIXSELL

A delegation of the ruling centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), led by party leader and Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, will take part in a European People's Party (EPP) congress in Helsinki to be held on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

At the congress, EPP member parties are expected to elect their lead pan-European candidate for the next European election in May 2019.

As Croatia’s Prime Minister, Plenkovic will also meet with the Finnish Prime Minister, Juha Sipila, on Wednesday.

The EPP meeting in Helsinki will also be attended by a number of EU government leaders from the ranks of EPP-affiliated parties, including German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, and Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban.

European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Parliament President, Antonio Tajani, will also attend.

The position of the so-called Spitzenkandidat, EPP’s candidate for the future President of the European Commission, is contested by German MEP Manfred Weber, and the Finnish MEP and former Prime Minister of Finland, Alexander Stubb.

In a party meeting in October, HDZ agreed they would support Weber’s candidacy in the race for the European Commission top job.

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