Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and French President Emmanuel Macron said during their meeting in Paris on Monday they were committed to defusing the Middle East crisis and protecting civilians, while clearly condemning Hamas' attack on Israel.

Plenkovic met with Macron before taking part in meetings at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which Croatia is aspiring to join.

With a clear condemnation of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, we are committed to defusing the Middle East crisis and protecting civilians, Plenkovic wrote on X after the meeting at the Élysée Palace.

The UN General Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” in Gaza. Since the document makes no mention of Hamas by name, 14 countries voted against the resolution, including Croatia. France supported the resolution.

Israel has stepped up its blockade and bombing of the Gaza Strip after Hamas launched a murderous attack on 7 October killing around 1,400 people and kidnapping 239 in a single day. Hamas’ health ministry has announced that over 8,000 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes so far.

Plenkovic added in his post that they had also discussed the prevention of illegal migration and the need to solve this problem at the source, and that the efforts Croatia was making in protecting the external borders of the EU were recognised.

Plenkovic and Macron also talked about bilateral and European issues. The successful acquisition of Rafale fighter jets has strengthened the partnership between Croatia and France, and this should be used to further promote economic relations, the Croatian PM wrote.

Croatia bought 12 multipurpose Rafale fighter jets from France, the first six of which are expected to arrive in Croatia at the beginning of the second quarter of 2024, and the rest as specified in the contracts.

Crises in the EU’s neighborhood require strong cooperation of the members and bold solutions, Plenkovic emphasised.

The Croatian prime minister then met with OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann before attending the OECD Council.

Plenkovic and Cormann signed a letter of acceptance of Croatia’s membership in the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions, under which Croatia undertakes to accede to the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Transactions as soon as possible, which is another important step on the country’s way to OECD membership.

In 2017, Croatia applied for membership of the OECD, an organisation that brings together 38 countries, and formally began the accession process in July 2022. The OECD deputy secretary general said before that Croatia could accede in three to seven years.

The second economic review of Croatia is expected in 2025, after the first one was conducted in September this year. Two economic reviews are a prerequisite for a country to become a member.

In addition to Croatia, the other candidate countries for OECD membership are Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Romania and Peru. The last country to join the OECD was Costa Rica in 2021.

Plenkovic also handed Cormman a letter on Croatia’s contribution of €250,000 to the OECD programme for Ukraine.

Plenkovic was accompanied by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlic-Radman and Minister of Finance Marko Primorac.