Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Sibenik on Friday there was no strategic goal the government had not fulfilled, yet that there remained a lot to do and that demographic revival was one of the main tasks.

“There is no strategic goal we haven’t fulfilled. We are in the club of the most developed world countries as a member of the EU, but we still have a lot to take care of. We are faced with population ageing. In Croatia, more people die than are born annually… and our fundamental task is to try to… change those trends, and we are working on that,” Plenkovic said at a ceremony marking the 29th anniversary of his HDZ party’s Sibenik county and city branches.

He said the population policy had started showing signs of success and that last year nearly 900 more children were born than in 2017.

He said the present generation was privileged because it lived in an independent and internationally recognised Croatia. “The recognition was not easy and didn’t happen overnight,” he said, highlighting Croatia’s accession to NATO and the European Union.

The prime minister said the economy was growing and that it was important for growth not to be based on new borrowing.

“We have relieved businesses by reducing administrative barriers. Counties now have more money and the merging of state administration offices will give them also greater powers,” he said, adding that the government wanted “all parts of Croatia to develop.”

Plenkovic said the government would continue to reform the justice and pension systems and provide for higher pensions. “We are also working on making Croatia attractive for investment.”

He said the HDZ would run “in the next European elections to present a successful Croatia in Europe,” voicing confidence that the party would “triumph in the May 26 elections.”