President Milanović at Day of the Faculty of Law: The European Union cannot be a super state, yet is trying to be one
“If this school has taught me something, then it is skepticism towards big projects and big ideas that will create a new, better, smarter and more tolerant society, as early as this coming Monday. All you have to do is stick to the rules, repeat the same mantras and everything will be ok. No it won’t be. The rule of law is very often the terror of law,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović stated today at a special session of the Faculty of Law, which was held on the occasion of the 249th anniversary of its foundation and to mark the Day of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb.
He explained his position on “terror of law” with the example of signing a contract for the renovation of the University building. “Today, the rector signed a contract for the renovation of the building that houses both the University and the Faculty of Law. What legal order is this – in conditions of abundant money from the European Union – that leads to a five and a half year wait for the signing of the contract. Is it the legal system or the terror of law? Is it democracy or democratism? What is behind it and is it in anyone’s interest to delay it for so long?” President Milanović asked, adding that “the institute of public tender, its transparency, public trust in its quality is an important thing”.
“We waited five and a half years for this. These are European funds. European democracy very often turns into democratism – it is not populism, but in the end it enables the terror of the minority, and that is the deep state. I am terribly reserved about all conspiracy theories, but the European legal system is a deep state, it exists only for itself and produces itself,” President Milanović noted.
Therefore, he warned that the tradition of the Zagreb Faculty of Law is not important to people in Europe, but must remain important to us in Croatia. “This building, these premises, the University and other faculties in Zagreb are our culture, our tradition and that will not change. If it has not changed with Belgrade, Vienna, Budapest and Berlin, it will not change with Brussels either,” the President emphasized.
“My message is healthy skepticism! Along with skepticism, there must be some dose of faith, which must be healthy and person-oriented, individual and intimate, but above all – skepticism and reservation towards grandiose ideas, super states. That is simply not right. The European Union cannot be a super state. The European Union is trying to do that and that is dangerous”, President Milanović concluded.
Speaking at the special session in addition to President Milanović were the dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Ivan Koprić, PhD; the rector of the University of Zagreb, Prof. Stjepan Lakušić, PhD; the president of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, Frane Staničić; the delegate of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation, Damir Habijan; and the delegate of the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, MP Krunoslav Katičić. Awards and recognitions were presented to professors and employees of the Faculty of Law.
The Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb is the oldest and largest institution in the field of legal education in Croatia. It was founded in 1776, and today it is one of the 34 faculties and academies of the University of Zagreb with around 175 professors and researchers. Around 5,500 domestic and international exchange students study at the Faculty. The Faculty is recognized for its numerous international collaborations, research and other projects, multiple professional and other public activities of students and professors in the local community and at the national level, as well as the high quality of studies within the framework of over 20 accredited study programmes in the fields of law, public administration, public finance, social work and social policy.
Accompanying President Milanović at the special session of the Day of the Faculty of the University of Zagreb was the Adviser to the President for Foreign and European Policy Neven Pelicarić.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta