President Milanović in Varaždin: Division of Croatia into Regions Would be Disintegration

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović took part in the formal session of the Varaždin County Assembly marking County Day, where he emphasized that counties, as the form of administration, are better than division into regions.

“What is being accomplished and how it is being accomplished” is visible, the President pointed out in his address, referring to the progress being made by Varaždin County. Commenting on reforms, President Milanović added that the counties would not be abolished and the number of municipalities would not be reduced.

“What was done in 1993 without a referendum, at the height of the war, when there were more pressing priorities than local government, will not be easily reversed,” the President of the Republic underscored. He said that the counties, as the form of administration and “transmission between the central government (and local government) in a country of just four million people,” made more sense than regions, adding that a renewed division of Croatia into so-called regions would be disintegration.

President Milanović expressed hope that Varaždin County would continue “in the right direction” and emphasized the importance of absorbing EU funds which is, as he put it, a measure of success.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dražen Volarić