President Milanović Meets with Members of the Organizing Committee of the 10th International Energy Forum INTERENEF
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović met today with members of the Organizing Committee of the 10th International Energy Forum – INTERENEF, which will be held in Zagreb this October under the theme “Energy and Food Sovereignty in the Age of Deglobalization.” The founder and Chair of the Organizing Committee of the 10th INTERENEF, Prof. Dr. Anđelko Milardović, presented to President Milanović the main objective of the Forum: to open a public discussion on how Croatia can secure energy and food sovereignty in today’s increasingly uncertain global environment.
“Society should be based on self-sufficiency in energy, food and technology, because a system based on transfers from European funds cannot function in the long term. The Forum is an opportunity for Croatia to begin considering a new development paradigm in a new and risk-prone world. The alternative to the current situation lies in linking energy, technology and food, because that also guarantees economic growth. Stability without economic development is not enough,” said Milardović, adding that he wants to involve all relevant stakeholders in the discussion, as the topic of the Forum is not ideological in nature.
During the meeting, participants discussed a number of obstacles and circumstances that have so far hindered Croatia’s progress towards energy and food security. It was emphasized, among other things, that Croatia has two strong instruments at its disposal for improving agricultural policy — state-owned land and subsidies — but that these have not been used effectively to date. It was also noted that Croatia is the only EU Member State to have recorded a continuous decline in agricultural production since joining the European Union, due to the absence of a sovereignty-oriented agricultural policy.
Alongside Anđelko Milardović, Director of the Institute of European and Globalization Studies and founder and Chair of the Organizing Committee of the 10th INTERENEF, the meeting was attended by Organizing Committee members Prof. Dr. Marija Cerjak, Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Mešić, Prof. Dr. Ivo Grgić, Prof. Dr. Tomislav Vinković, Dr. Marko Jelić, Prof. Dr. Danijel Jug, M.Sc. Robert Hadžić, Sanja Ivezić, Stella Jug and Marija Markotić Gojić, as well as campaign manager Maja Šimatović and campaign team member Domagoj Papo. President Milanović was accompanied by Julije Domac, Special Adviser to the President of the Republic for Energy and Climate.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek