President Milanović Attends Umag Municipal Day Celebration
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović attended a special session of the Town Council of Umag on the occasion of Municipal Day. He extended congratulations to the residents, and told them to continue working as they have thus far because they have created one of the most pleasant living spaces in Europe. “It is rich enough, clean and beautiful, here live people who have no prejudices. As such you are one of Europe’s leaders”, President Milanović said in his address.
“As a child I remember this town being well developed, but its outskirts and Istria’s interior was poor and neglected. Today, the difference is huge, and this part is one of the most pleasant, perhaps not the richest, but certainly not the poorest part of western Europe. You can be proud and happy to live in such an area”, President Milanović stated, and encouraged them to make use of European funds, because as he said, “these European funds are indeed the only reason to be part of the European Union”.
In this sense, he underlined that Istria is a specific region where northern Italy, Croatia and Slovenia meet: “a beautiful living space without conflicts or violence. However, Europe is terribly complicated to manage, make decisions, harmonize politics. Ultimately, it comes to this: if you are on average less developed than the richest countries, take as much as you can from European funds. This has nothing to do with ideology or special human values, but if we start imposing values and traditions to people we won’t get far”, President Milanović noted.
Also speaking at the ceremony in the “Antonio Coslovich” auditorium were the president of the Municipal Council of Umag Ivan Belušić, and the mayor of Umag Vili Bassanese, who presented awards to deserving residents of Umag on the occasion of Municipal Day. Accompanying President Milanović at the ceremony was the Adviser to the President for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Ana Marija Katić