European Commission Vice-President for democracy and demography Dubravka Suica spoke to N1 on Tuesday, talking about Croatia's 10 years of EU membership.

“Croatia has made good use of all opportunities, from both the Parliamentary and the Commission perspective. Of course we’re talking about the funds, but it’s not only about that. It’s also about values and I believe that Croatia is in step with the rest of the EU member countries. It was not easy for us, we joined the EU alone, just like we joined Schengen this New year. In any case, I believe Croatia has used all opportunities, but there is still work to be done. We are living in a new world, a post-pandemic world, a time of the Ukraine-Russia war, a time of an energy crisis,” Suica said.

She also commented on the hurdles in the integration process itself.

“During that time, I was a Mayor and a vice-president of the European Integrations Committee. I remember how we passed those laws and brought them in line with the European legislation. That wasn’t a simple process, it took time to adopt and adjust all those laws, and there have been obstacles as well. One of them concerned the Hague Tribunal, but there were others,” she said. “You know that North Macedonia and Turkey had also started the negotiations – one of them together with us, the other even before us, and we managed to become a full member, which, in my opinion, was a huge success for Croatia.”

Suica added she believes the EU would expand further in the near future.

“It is in the interest of the Balkan countries, but also Ukraine and Georgia now, that the expansion happens. But this is also in the interest of the EU: as you can see, its position on the global political map is changing. Of course, the criteria must be met and I hope that the countries closest to us will be able to do so, primarily North Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro, but this is up to them. When we talk about Ukraine and the countries in the east, they were granted candidate status, perhaps a bit fast-tracked, but we wanted to symbolically show them they are a part of Europe,” she said.

In spite of the fact that Croatia is at the bottom of EU’s list in regards to living standards, Suica believes the EU funds are used well and that the country is moving in the right direction.

“We made good use of all that is available and I hope we will keep getting better and better. Don’t forget the Resilience and Recovery fund, where we got access to a lot of many for the post-pandemic period. Also, don’t forget the 25 billion euros in the 2021-2027 budget. I hope that money will be used in line with the national recovery plan and that our GDP and our people’s living standards will improve as a result,” she said.

“I believe Croatia is moving in the right direction. It is not easy, what with everything that happened in the last 30 years and after the war, it is not easy to catch up with western European countries. This is why the cohesion politics is called that way: we want to meet our goal and catch up with the other member countries in terms of living standards, and that is a long-term process,” Suica said.