“When we started, we wanted to send a message about a strong Europe in a world full of challenges. Nobody knew that one of the challenges would be COVID-19, which didn’t change only the Croatian presidency but the world, Europe, Croatia, and many countries around the world,” said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic
By Genc Mlloja
Senior Diplomatic Editor
When Croatia took over its first EU Presidency on January 1 this year no one imagined that COVID-19 would change dramatically the world, including Europe and the EU itself. The Croatian new presidency of the Union and the EU Headquarters in Brussels were stunned by the overnight explosion of the coronavirus pandemic forcing them to divert the course as things could not go as planned. No one could envisage what was going to come but the meaning of Zagreb’s motto “A strong Europe in a world of challenges” became a slogan of war against COVID -19 hitting hard the Union members and the entire world.
“When we started, we wanted to send a message about a strong Europe in a world full of challenges. Nobody knew that one of the challenges would be COVID-19, which didn’t change only the Croatian presidency but the world, Europe, Croatia, and many countries around the world,” said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on 29 June at a meeting with the chiefs of foreign diplomatic offices in Zagreb.
Moreover Croatia started the presidency at a time of change for the EU, following the elections of a new European Parliament, a new European Commission, and Brexit, with a member state leaving the EU for the first-time in a cloud of uncertainty about its future relations.
In addition to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Croatian capital had been struck by a strong earthquake in late March which made imperative the issue of reconstruction of Zagreb, which was hardly hit.
Against this ‘sunless’ background the carefully scheduled events of the 2020 Croatia EU Presidency (EU 2020 HR) had to be replaced by video conferences and conference calls amidst the atmosphere of the frightful spread of the very dangerous and heinous ‘hidden enemy’. Zagreb had to quickly shift the focus from the priorities of the presidency to the most important priority – the safety of European citizens.
As soon as the pandemic broke out, the Croatian presidency started working on the coordination of a common response to the crisis. The integrated political crisis response was established very quickly and the Council reached agreement in record time on the Commission’s proposals to mitigate the effects of the plague.
In cooperation with member states, the Croatian presidency participated in the repatriation of 650,000 EU citizens who, in the middle of the pandemic, were in third countries across the world, including hundreds of Albanians.
Croatia’s regret…
Which was Croatia’s greatest regret during its mandate at the helm of the EU? The start of the EU presidency with the arrival of European officials in Croatia and visits to several European capitals, which was seen as the launch of the Croatian ambition to bring the EU closer to citizens through various events, was very promising. And such a practice was not a discovery as it is what other member states did during their presidencies.
But for Croatia it was a significant moment as it was its first presidency of the Union since membership in July 2013, when it became the EU’s 28th member. Besides its political significance the country had very much to show as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Europe and the world.
Unfortunately the pandemic disrupted Croatia’s initial plans and program, and everything should be swiftly adapted to cope with the crisis at the European level. “We started following the situation in China on January 8 already, notably in Wuhan. That enabled us to respond to the crisis at the European level already on January 28,” Plenkovic said, adding that “a great job has been done in managing the crisis.”
January and February proceeded as planned but in March the coronavirus started spreading across Europe.
After lockdown measures were introduced all over Europe, more than 60 video conferences were held, including six virtual meetings by heads of state or government. All Council formations held virtual meetings, some a number of times. Even though in such new unprecedented circumstances Croatia could manage to achieve the maximum in the last six months.
A short balance sheet of what was accomplished reflects the energetic and imaginative approach of the Croatian government, which was highlighted by PM Plenkovic as the mandate is coming to a close. And some of the achievements in the new circumstances are the ensuring of an orderly Brexit, a consensus was reached within the European Council on a mandate for future negotiations with the UK, and focus was put on the European perspective of the Western Balkan states, which was crowned with the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia and the Zagreb summit on enlargement.
The EU-Western Balkan summit, which was planned to be the highlight of the presidency, didn’t take place in Zagreb because of the pandemic, but instead, a video summit was held where member states adopted the Zagreb Declaration which reaffirmed the European perspective of the Balkans states.
A summit was also organized with the Eastern Partnership and an agreement was reached on the Conference on the Future of Europe, which is needed more than ever. The conference should be launched as soon as the epidemiological conditions are ensured and it should focus on how to develop EU policies over the medium and long term in order to tackle more effectively the challenges facing Europe, including the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the meantime a new round of negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework was approaching, as well as on a European recovery plan. The EU must show through both instruments “that it stands by its member states and citizens and that it can act quickly and effectively,” said Croatian premier.
Also, Plenkovic noted that Croatia had achieved progress in two issues not related to the presidency: drawing closer to euro and Schengen area membership.
It is worthy to mention what Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said on how the coronavirus had shown that multilateralism was needed more than ever and that international solidarity was fragile.
In that crisis Croatia has again proved to be a responsible and reliable partner, he said, thanking the foreign diplomats in Zagreb for their support. “You were with us the whole time and we felt your support.”
‘Croatia did a pretty good job’
Croatia did not expect to find a solution for everything during its six-month presidency faced with big challenges and expectations, too.
But as a senior German EU official told journalists on 29 June quoted by ‘Brussels Times’ Germany, which is taking over the rotating presidency of the 27-nation bloc under the motto “Together for Europe’s recovery”, will be facing crucial and difficult challenges as its predecessor Croatia did when it assumed the presidency on 1 January 2020.
“Considering that the Croatian presidency took place during extremely difficult circumstances, it did a pretty good job,” the German official said.
Germany took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1 and one of its main targets will be to continue the combat started by the Croatian EU presidency- the combat against COVID-19.
“Our presidency has been nicknamed the ‘Corona presidency’,” the senior German EU official said.
“No country can weather the crisis alone, in isolation,” declared Chancellor Angela Merkel in the German Bundestag on 18 June. “Europe needs us, just as we need Europe”. Europe is not only a historical legacy but “a project that will lead us into the future”.
