Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Friday that Croatia was "in a decade in which it would achieve strong economic development and closer integration," noting that "over the past 30 years the country had achieved its main national goals," state agency Hina reported.

“We are in a decade in which we will achieve strong economic development, closer integration, enter the Schengen area, the euro area and very probably become a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development,” Plenkovic said at a conference organized by the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Croatia’s independence.

Recalling the most important events in the past three decades, Plenkovic said that as a nation Croatia had achieved its main national goals, going through a large number of transitions – from a single-party to a multi-party system, from a planned to a market economy, the liberation of occupied areas, the peaceful reintegration of the Danube region, membership of the EU and NATO, etc.

Croatia must make the most of the development decade

“The decade we are in is finally a peaceful, development decade that we must make the most of,” he said, telling young ELSA members to be responsible stakeholders in society and “a voice that will discourage demagogues and populists.”

European Commission Vice President for Democracy and Demography and a member of Plenkovic’s party HDZ, Dubravka Suica, said that EU citizens were “right to ask for a greater role in decision-making, which was one of the reasons why the Conference on the Future of the EU, the biggest project of participatory democracy ever, was launched.”

“We want to involve all EU citizens in discussions on what kind of Europe we want. It is especially important for the conference to be joined by young people from all parts of Europe, notably Croatia,” Suica said, noting that “discussions on the future of Europe that do not take into account demographic changes that are shaping the EU and its development are meaningless.”

Addressing the conference, Zagreb Law School dean Ivan Kopric underlined the importance of ELSA and recalled that Plenkovic was the chairman of its International Board.

He said the two-day conference would discuss the future of the EU and Croatia, youth education, judiciary and administration as key elements of a state’s functioning, economy and accession to the euro area, green and digital transition, etc.

Stressing the importance of involving young people in all decision-making processes, ELSA Croatia president, Alen Sukurica, said that young people today were faced with numerous challenges, notably in the current time of the pandemic.