Croatia adopts program for upcoming EU presidency

The Croatian government adopted a program for the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) here on Friday.

Croatia takes over the rotating six-month EU presidency on Jan. 1, 2020, its first ever since its EU accession in 2013.

The slogan of the presidency will be “A strong Europe in a world of challenges”. The program is based on four pillars: a Europe that develops, a Europe that connects, a Europe that protects, and a Europe that is influential.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stressed that the program contains Croatia’s national priorities and is in line with the new strategic agenda of the EU for the 2019-2024 period.

Based on the program, Croatia’s presidency will advocate “a balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth of the EU that takes account of the specificities and needs of all member countries, their regions and citizens,” Croatian news agency HINA reported.

Croatia will “encourage policies directed at promoting the EU’s infrastructure connectivity and at bringing its citizens closer, primarily through education, culture, and sports.”

It will “work to further build the EU as an area of freedom, security, and justice based on shared values, democracy and the rule of law, including internal security, better protection of the external borders, achieving the full operability of information systems, strengthening resilience to external threats as well as to hybrid and cyber threats,” the government announced on Friday.