Croatia: Turkey-Greece and Turkey-Bulgaria border should be strengthened
Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic spoke online on a show hosted by the Atlantic Council, a think tank in Washington, DC.
Stating that his country openly condemned Russia in the framework of the Russia-Ukraine war and provided diplomatic, economic, military and humanitarian support to Ukraine, Plenkovic noted that they hosted some 22,000 Ukrainian refugees in his country. Plenkovic pointed to the problems experienced in the fields of economy and energy in Europe after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, saying that as Western leaders, lessons must be learned from current problems.
“RUSSIAN AGGRESSION MUST BE UNDER CONTROL”
In this context, Plenkovic emphasized the importance of sustainability in policy, saying:
“The key word is sustainability. The ability of Ukrainians to continue to resist. Sustainability of Western aid to Ukraine. Sustainability to face the challenges that Western governments face, such as energy prices, inflation, food prices and maintaining social cohesion in our countries. Only when sustainability is achieved in these three areas can a solution be reached to respect the territorial integrity of the Ukrainians and contain the brutal Russian aggression.”
“THE BULGARIAN AND GREECE BORDER WITH TURKEY SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED”
The Croatian prime minister expressed that they do not want to build walls or barbed wire on the borders of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, on the contrary, they want to cooperate with these countries to prevent illegal immigration. Plenkovic, for his part, stated that they want to strengthen the EU’s external borders, such as the Turkey-Greece border and the Turkey-Bulgaria border, to prevent uncontrolled illegal migratory flows.
After noting that his country is one of the 15 countries that are members of NATO, Schengen and the Eurozone, Plenkovic also referred to his relations with the Balkan countries. Plenkovic stated that they want to strengthen bilateral relations with Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Noting that the Russia-Ukraine war accelerated the EU membership agendas of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, Plenkovic stated that they especially supported Ukraine’s progress towards EU membership. (AA)