President Milanović Meets with Members of Croatian Debate Society
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović met today with members of the Croatian Debate Society, a non-governmental and non-profit organization dedicated to the development of critical thinking, democratic culture and active citizenship among young people.
As the basis of their work, members of the Croatian Debate Society highlighted a long-term debate programme in schools and through youth clubs, which includes continuous work with young people, mentor training, tournament organization, and development of debate competencies through practice. Participants include high school students, mainly grammar school students, as well as pupils from upper elementary school classes.
They also highlighted the strong international component of the Society’s work and singled out the Winter Holidays Open (WHO) debating tournament, which was held in 2025 under the patronage of the President of the Republic. It was the 13th edition of the tournament and brought together 50 teams, or 250 participants, from several countries, from Central Europe to Asia, it was said at the meeting.
The debate programme in Croatia has been implemented since 1994, and the Croatian Debate Society was registered in 1998. From the initial four clubs in Zagreb and fewer than 50 participants, the programme has developed into a network of over 150 youth clubs across Croatia with approximately 2,000 participants annually. Since 2003, the debate programme has been recognized as an extracurricular activity, and debate tournaments organized in cooperation with the Education Agency have been included in the official system of competitions for students.
The delegation of the Croatian Debate Society included: executive director Gorana Jurišić; members of the Management Board, Bojan Marjanović, Ana Kršinić and Leon Zrnić; and organizers of the Winter Holidays Open programme: manager Darija Jeger, coordinator of the debate programme, Josip Majsec, and volunteer Tihana Novosel.
Alongside President Milanović was the Adviser to the President for Education Jadranka Žarković.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Ana Marija Katić