US ambassador to Croatia, Robert Kohorst, gave an interview to N1 television on Tuesday, at the Croatian Air Force airbase at Pleso near Zagreb. Kohorst commented on the cooperation between the two countries, the recent mid-term elections in the US, and the Marrakech agreement on migrants, which the United States decided to pull out of.

At Pleso, five US Air Force helicopters made a stopover before continuing to Greece. The AH-64 Apache, CH-47 Chinook, and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters are being relocated to the Stefanovikio airbase in central Greece, to prepare for taking part in the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

Kohorst was asked to comment on the military cooperation between the two countries, which included two Blackhawk helicopters donated to Croatia which were delivered in October, as part of the Croatian armed forces’ modernisation programme.

“We’re very excited Croatia is hosting a stopover of five of our Apaches, they are transitioning to Greece for some winter training, and it’s really nice to have them here and to be able to show the Croatian audience what some Apache helicopters look like… We constantly have great cooperation with he Croatian military, they’re very supportive of what we’re trying to do, we view Croatia as a great partner of ours,” Kohorst said.

Mid-term results expected, may bring more bipartisanship 

Asked to comment on the results of the US mid-term elections held on Tuesday, Kohorst said that the results, which saw Republicans lose control of the House of Representatives after eight years, was an expected outcome.

“It was about as expected. The Republicans lost the House, but retained control of the Senate. That’s pretty typical in a mid-term election, that the party in power loses some seats. So I think the government going forward will have to find ways to work on a more bipartisan basis, and hopefully, will be able to do that,” he said.

He added that the result is unlikely to bring any changes in the US foreign policy.

“No, I don’t think any significant changes. The president obviously wasn’t up for re-election, so his policies will remain in place, the Senate is where you provide most of the advice and consent on appointments, both overseas and judiciary. So I don’t think there will be big changes there. There will be changes in how legislation gets passed, and hopefully the parties can find ways to work together.”

Red tape biggest obstacle to more American investments

Asked to comment on the economic cooperation between the two countries, Kohorst said that the reforms which aim to cut red tape are crucial in attracting more American investments.

“The United States has a lot of money to invest, a lot of great companies that are looking for worldwide opportunities, and I think a lot of them would like to come here. I think Croatia needs to continue on the path it started with the EU, on better transparency in the judiciary, less bureaucracy, and they are certainly making progress. They need to continue to do that, and if so, we’ll see more and more Americans come here. One of the initiatives we’re going to put forward in the embassy is to try and help Croatia attract more American businesses here, and hopefully we can do that,” he said.

He added that the industries with potential for American investments include tourism, energy, IT and manufacturing.

“Well obviously the first one is tourism. We’d like to see more American hotel brands come here. I know Marriott is slated to come to Split in the next couple of years. But we have some great hotel brands who could come here, and tourism brands. So that’s one. In the energy sector, I know they are opening up some new drilling rights and the like, it’d be great to see some mid-sized energy companies come here and get involved in that. We’ve got great IT companies, you’re got an educated workforce, so we could see IT companies come here. And even some manufacturing. The US has a resurgence in manufacturing, so why not bring some of those plants here also,” Kohorst told N1.

Marrakech agreement “not sufficient” for the US

Kohorst was asked to explain the United States’ decision not to take part in the UN’s Marrakech conference and agreement on migrants, which includes provisions intended to protect human rights of migrants around the world.

“We don’t think that the Marrakech agreement is really sufficient for our needs. It’s not complete enough, it’s too restrictive on US policy, so it’s really not appropriate for the United States. That doesn’t mean we are unconcerned about immigrants, we take a huge number of immigrants into the United States every year. We were founded by immigrants, as a country, and nobody is against immigration in the United States, we have hundreds of thousands of immigrants come in a year. We’d like them to come legally, as part of the regular process, and if they do that, they are welcome to become part of our society,” Kohorst said.

Asked about President Donald Trump’s views, whose anti-immigration rhetoric is well known, Kohorst said that it is important to distinguish legal immigration from illegal immigration.

“No, actually, what I hear him (Trump) say is he is against illegal immigration. We have a huge illegal immigration programme, and I think everyone in the United States is in favour of that.”

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