We have achieved all our goals in 30 years, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at a reception with the Croatian community in New York, and thanked the people there, as well as all Croats in the world, who helped in this both financially and as promoters of their homeland.
Croats no longer need visas for the USA and in a few weeks the process of abolishing double taxation will end, which is also important for Croats in the USA, said the Prime Minister in New York, where he arrived for the annual session of the UN General Assembly at the time of ” incredibly brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine, a country friendly to us”.
This fact “also changed international relations and affected the lives of all of us”, which have already been changed by challenges such as the two-and-a-half-year pandemic, rising energy prices, inflation, which is a challenge for governments, including Croatia, which brought a package of aid to the economy and citizens.
“We are one of only 15 countries in the world that will join NATO as of January 1, 2023. and the European Union and in the Schengen area and in the Eurozone,” he said.
Croatia, which 30 years ago was not on the world map as an independent country, and “in three decades, thanks to the efforts of all of us, has become the core of the most developed countries”, he emphasized.
Croatia still needs to join the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), he added.
“Then that’s it, we have achieved everything we wanted in the last 30 years”.
Croatia especially appreciates and values the contribution of Croats on that path, he said.
“You have helped a lot, from financial aid, humanitarian aid and aid in arming Croatia in the early 1990s to the promotion of strong and vibrant economic cooperation.”
He especially greeted the Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, while he did not fail to mention the parliamentary elections in less than two weeks, where the big issue is the representation of Bosnian Croats in the bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He also boasted about Croatia’s higher than expected economic growth and excellent tourism results at a record level in 2019.
In times of crisis due to the war in Ukraine and the consequences of rising energy prices and inflation, “there is only one actor who can help both people and the economy, that actor is called the state, and that is the Croatian state,” Plenković said.
He also spoke about the HRK 21 million aid package for households and entrepreneurs that the government brought in three weeks ago.
“This means that we will once again overcome the crisis and enable the Croatian economy to be as secure as possible.
He called on Croats to help their homeland as much as they can and to be an actor that will connect Croats around the world, he said at the event, which was attended by Ambassador Pjer Šimunović and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić-Radman, as well as former President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović.
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