The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs gathered ambassadors, consuls general, consuls and military envoys of the Republic of Croatia at a regular two-day conference, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 27 and 28, in the National and University Library in Zagreb. It was officially opened in the presence of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, and in addition to Croatian diplomats, it also gathered representatives of the diplomatic corps in Croatia.
The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Gordan Grlić Radman, opened the conference on Tuesday with an opening address on current foreign policy topics and Croatian foreign policy priorities, and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, also addressed the audience, emphasizing the importance of Croatia’s international activities in the context of global challenges.
The annual gathering of representatives of Croatian diplomacy this year also provided an opportunity for Croatian ambassadors, consuls general, consuls and military envoys to discuss numerous topics on which they exchanged opinions through various panels, actively participating in discussions. On the first day, the participants thus had the opportunity to discuss Europe and the European Union, the current situation in Southeast Europe, the main world threats, as well as multipolar challenges.
European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica and Member of the European Parliament Davor Ivo Stier gave their input as keynote speakers on the panel “Europe and the EU – Local and Global”, and the discussion itself focused on the current political and economic situation within the European Union, as well as on the key challenges that Europe as a whole is facing at the global level.
Minister Gordan Grlić Radman opened the panel “Current situation in Southeast Europe” by highlighting the challenges facing Croatian foreign policy. At the panel “Major World Threats”, the opening speech was given by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, Davor Božinović, and the participants discussed the global challenges and security threats that the world is facing today. The President of the Croatian Parliament, Gordan Jandroković, opened the panel “Multipolar challenges before the West”, emphasizing the geopolitical challenges and opportunities we face in an increasingly multipolar world.
Along with the ceremonial reception of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman, conference participants had the opportunity to participate in the opening of the exhibition “Solidarity with Ukraine” and view the exhibition of commemorative postage stamps of a number of countries that were issued in support of Ukraine after the Russian aggression and the beginning war in that country. The exhibition was organized on the initiative of the Ukrainian Post, organized by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Croatian Post. As it was pointed out, by setting up this exhibition, a strong message of solidarity with Ukraine was once again sent.
The conference continued on Wednesday with a panel on Croatia’s membership in the OECD, where further steps and challenges facing Croatia on the way to membership in that international organization were discussed, and the state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs spoke about Croatia’s status in the accession process. of foreign trade and development cooperation Zdenko Lucić.
An interesting discussion followed on the panel about the position of women in diplomacy, and the importance of gender equality and the challenges faced by women in diplomacy were discussed by officials from Croatian diplomacy and European institutions.
As a special guest, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of North Macedonia, Timčo Macunski, then addressed the participants.
The regular annual gathering of representatives of Croatian diplomacy once again marked an excellent opportunity for analysis and systematic discussion of key aspects of Croatian foreign policy. This meeting once again enabled a comprehensive exchange of views on numerous current challenges.