Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman on Thursday took part in a virtual meeting of the Central European Initiative which discussed the transition to the new normal and strengthening cooperation between the member states in times of crisis, the ministry said in a press release.

The foreign ministers of the 17 CEI member states discussed new regional cooperation prospects and the need to strengthen the CEI owing to its role in responding to the crisis caused by COVID-19.

Grlic-Radman said the experience in combating the pandemic at the global, regional and national levels provided an opportunity to review what had been done and discuss ways of improving cooperation in dealing with this challenge in future.

“At the regional level we have shown the ability to effectively cooperate in the hardest circumstances. The establishment of green transit routes for goods and medical equipment, and the assistance provided to more than half a million EU citizens to return to their countries, are just some of the successful examples of our crossborder and regional cooperation,” he said.

Grlic-Radman recalled that while presiding over the Council of the EU in the first half of the year, Croatia activated the Integrated Political Crisis Response as an EU framework for coordination and crises at the highest political level.

“The EU and its member states committed to a global response package, Team Europe, in the amount of nearly €36 billion, to support countries in the fight against the pandemic. Also, the EU mobilised a package of over €3.3 billion for Western Balkan states, for the health sector and for social and economic recovery. That proves the need for cooperation and common efforts on the international level,” he said.