On the occasion of the Day of the City of Cakovec and the 30th anniversary of the founding of the city, a formal meeting of the City Council was held on Wednesday. President Zoran Milanovic said in his speech that Croatia must take advantage of the EU's offers, as a crisis is imminent.

In his speech, Milanovic emphasised the importance of the Zrinski family, especially Juraj IV Zrinski, the grandfather of Nikola and Petar Zrinski, who is said to have translated and printed the first book in the Croatian Kajkavian dialect.

Milanovic emphasised that the Zrinskis were great Europeans, fluent in several foreign languages, and that Juraj IV was more Protestant than Catholic, a person who stood out at the time of the Reformation and swam against the tide.

“This kind of literacy in the local language, in the vernacular, was typical of the members of the Reformation movement and the Protestants of the time; they despised Latin. Years later, his descendants, his grandchildren, died for the Croatian reality,” said Milanovic.

He also referred to Croatia’s membership in the European family of nations.

“We cannot live in the belief that the current situation will last forever”

“We have always been part of the European family of nations. Nothing has changed in that respect. Some things have changed. More money is flowing into European projects, and that would be the case regardless of who is prime minister. Perhaps the money would be handled more seriously and responsibly, but it would be the same and the projects would be realised,” said Milanovic, adding that this would not go on forever.

“This is a special and rare time when we have to make the best of what we are offered, because tomorrow there will be a crisis, I am one hundred per cent sure of that. I do not believe that Croatia will experience a dangerous, war-like crisis. I believe that we are protected from this and that we will not experience this scenario. But we cannot live in the belief that the current situation will last forever,” said Milanovic.

“Europe and the world are facing a serious, major crisis and we must look after our own interests and well-being”

He added that Croatia must remain faithful to what it has voluntarily committed itself to, namely the European Union and NATO.

“But… we must remain sober. The crises will come. Europe and the world are facing a serious, major crisis and we must look after our own interests and well-being,” he said.

The Mayor of Cakovec, Ljerka Cividini, spoke about local projects and noted that the year 2023 finally ended on a positive note after 2008 and that the city administration has good liquidity.

“The year ended with a plus and the positive result proves that the city’s finances were carefully managed, which does not mean that investments were stopped. When we look back on the year, countless buildings were built or reconstructed,” said Cividini.

She added that investments are also being made in education.

The prefect of Medjimurje County, Matija Posavec, said that Cakovec is one of the most developed towns in Croatia.

“A city that works, produces, lives, develops evenly, and Medjimurje County provides great support in this,” he said, adding that the county has renovated almost all secondary schools and plans to renovate the Cakovec Business School and that five parks are being built in the city.