President Milanović in Rovišće: The more we absorb EU funds, the more money will be left for Croatia’s needs

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović attended a special session of the Municipal Council of Rovišće on the occasion of Municipal Day. In addressing the gathering, he remarked that already when entering the municipality the achievements are evident.

Commenting on the development of the municipality and comparing it to the achievements of municipalities in Croatia’s south that make a living from tourism, the President told them that “your success required a lot more concentration and work”.

The special session was held in Rovišće’s Cultural Centre, built with resources from European funds, which President Milanović welcomed. “Are those European funds – the only thing that interests me. You say they are and that’s the essence of the story”, President Milanović stated, adding that today the basis of Croatian membership in the European Union is money. “The basis is money that is offered as some sort of compensation to listen to those who are bigger and richer than we are. And if we don’t spend the last euro, the money that is actually available, then we’re not doing a good job. Every euro that comes from European funds should be the target of our ambition and our wish to utilize it because we in turn give up a good part of our sovereignty”, President MIlanović stated, adding that this is the world we live in and to which we have to adapt.

“Those are the things I notice first – show me what you have and the source of its funding. European funds are good because they are terribly strict, is a just system that teaches us honest management. The more we absorb EU funds, the more money we’ll have for our needs, for those who need help in our country, and in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina”, the President noted.

In relation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, President Milanović underlined that he knows he is addressing a public that listens, feels and understands, since many of them originate from Rama. “When I say that the fight is for the fundamental rights of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for their political rights in another state – towards which we have no ambitions – then this fight and this commitment is our deep and moral obligation, andd for some of you even more so”, President Milanović stated.

Prior to the special session the President of the Republic laid a wreath and lit a candle at the monument to the fallen Croatian defenders in the main square in Rovišće. Alongside President Milanović was the Adviser to the President for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić and the Special Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Mareković.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan