The Croatian government will support subsidising and intervening in energy prices as long as necessary, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in Versailles on Thursday ahead of an EU summit which will focus on the Russian aggression on Ukraine and its repercussions.

Speaking to the press, he said that yesterday the government adopted a set of measures to buffer energy price hikes worth almost 5 billion kuna.

Plenkovic said the current global circumstances were “indeed extraordinary” and that is why he felt “that this effort must be a bit broader to cushion the pressure on citizens.”

The summit will discuss not only diversification of energy supply but also energy prices, which are 500-700% higher than last year, he said, adding that the capping of energy prices was discussed at a meeting of European People’s Party leaders prior to the EU summit.

“The war in Ukraine has a huge impact on energy prices and one of the topics was to make joint efforts so that we cap those prices because if this goes on, we will all have problems in the long term.”

The draft of the Versailles declaration, which EU leaders are expected to adopt at the summit, says the Russian aggression on Ukraine represents a tectonic change in European history.

The French presidency’s initial idea was for this informal summit to focus on a European growth and investment model until 2030, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s EU membership application, and the security situation in Europe changed that plan.

Condemnation of attack on Ukraine

The summit will discuss how Europe can take responsibility in this new reality, how to protect citizens, values, democracy and the European model.

Leaders will discuss strengthening the EU’s defence capabilities, reducing energy dependence, and building stronger economic foundations.

In a separate statement on the Russian aggression on Ukraine, they will strongly condemn the unprovoked and unjustified attack and say that Russia is fully responsible for it, for unselective targetting of civilians and for the unspeakable suffering of the Ukrainian population.

According to the draft of the statement, EU leaders ask Russia to vouch for the security of the nuclear plants in Ukraine in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Russia is also asked to immediately and unconditionally cease military operations and withdraw its troops and military equipment from all over Ukraine.

The draft statement also honours the Ukrainians for their courage in defending their country, freedom and democracy.

We will not leave them alone, the draft says, adding that the EU and its member states will continue to provide coordinated political, financial, material and humanitarian support.

EU leaders also underline their determination to intensify the pressure on Russia and Belarus, to make sure that adopted sanctions are applied in full, and to adopt new ones quickly if necessary.

Ukraine’s EU membership application

As for Ukraine’s application for EU membership, according to the draft statement, the leaders’ response is quite vague.

The Council has asked the Commission to draw up an opinion on the application, the draft says, adding that until then EU leaders will strengthen ties and deeper the partnership with Ukraine without delay.

Some member states support Ukraine’s application for swift admission, but there is no majority support. EU sources say it is possible that Ukraine will be offered closer integration into the single European market, connecting to the energy market, and stronger partnership.

“Croatia’s position, and I said so yesterday to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, is that we support them as much as possible so that the process can be as fast as possible and that we also give political weight to special relations with Ukraine in these circumstances, which can mean intensifying the political dialogue on security and humanitarian topics, what is most important to them and what would help them in this difficult situation in which they are the victims of an aggression,” said Plenkovic.

Dependence on Russian fossil fuels

The EU imports 45% of its gas and 27% of its crude oil needs from Russia. This week the Commission presented the outlines of a plan to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of this year already and make it totally independent of Russian fossil fuels long before the end of this decade.

The REPowerEU plan envisages strengthening energy system resilience, gas supply diversification by increasing imports from other suppliers and by LNG, and increasing the use of biogas and renewable hydrogen.

The draft statement says EU leaders agreed on a gradual reduction of dependence on Russian gas, coal and oil imports, but no deadline is mentioned.

Strengthening defence capabilities

They are also expected to agree to significantly raise defence expenditure, invest in lacking strategic capacities, participate in common projects and public procurement related to defence capabilities, step up capabilities to participate in missions and operations, stimulate the synergy of civilian, defence and space research and innovation, invest in new technologies and innovations in defence and security, and to undertake measures to boost and develop the defence industry.

Plenkovic said that this year Croatia had its biggest defence budget yet at HRK 7.2 billion and that decisions were made to buy fighter jets and Bradley vehicles.

“We are investing in all Croatian Army branches and, given the tectonic change of the security architecture, it’s likely that we will all set aside more and probably faster.”

Asked if restoring mandatory military service in Croatia was being considered, he said it had not been discussed yet.

“What is important is that after 24 February (the start of the Russian aggression on Ukraine), nothing is as it was. All the fundamental postulates of the international order and law have been annulled and demolished. We’ll see (about mandatory military service).”

Strengthening economic foundations

EU leaders will commit in the Versailles declaration to working on strengthening the economic basis to make the economy more resilient, more competitive, and ready for the green and digital transition.

Through strategic partnerships, they will ensure critical raw materials, diversify supply chains for semiconductors and develop chip production capacities to achieve a 20% share in world production by 2030.

As for health, the draft declaration says member states should focus on supporting innovation and affordable medicines, financing research and development, building capacities for the production of critical products in response to health crises, and investing in biomedicine.

As for digitalisation, EU leaders will announce bigger investment in digital technologies, artificial intelligence, cloud, and 5G.