President Milanović on Brač Island: Every EU fund euro should be taken and used purposefully

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović attended on Wednesday a ceremony in Supetar on the island of Brač to mark the opening of the joint Supetar Fire Department (DVD Supetar), a capital project of the town of Supetar and the municipalities of Nerežišća, Postira and Sutivan, which will serve as the operations centre of the fire and civil protection services of Brač Island and as the training centre for Split-Dalmatia County firefighters. It is also one of the first examples of the establishment of a functional connection between several local self-government units with the aim of introducing a joint fire protection service on the island. The project is worth HRK 22 million and was mostly financed through EU funds.

At the opening ceremony, President Milanović pointed out that the efforts of volunteer fire departments across Croatia are deeply noble and useful, and their work should never be underestimated.

The President’s address at the event particularly focused on firefighters from the island of Brač, who have been waiting for this moment for a long time and did not hide their emotions at the ceremony. “This island has been Europe long before European funds arrived. It is Europe in terms of the culture of its people, their work habits, knowledge and skills. It has been Europe thirty or more years ago in terms of its well-organized infrastructure. It is Europe today when we look at this facility that was financed by almost 80% of EU money. That’s what I call the fulfilment of a purpose,” said the President of the Republic, adding that he does not view the EU emotionally, either positively or even less negatively. “But as long as we have to trade, in some respects, some of our natural rights with Brussels – which we have as a nation and a state – then the measure of success is every euro that Croatia has taken from the euros offered. Every euro should be taken for purposeful, good things,” he added.

“This is a good thing. This is security, protection of property, peace and serenity for the people. Over the last few decades, my calling and profession has brought a lot of ugly things, but even more beautiful things to my life. One such thing was being able to witness what people from the island of Brač have accomplished in faraway parts of the world that I was lucky enough to visit. Wherever you go and see people from Brač – and the same goes for people from the island of Hvar – you see success in faraway expanses of the world. The people of Brač have always demonstrated that they are not ones who will cross the whole world and be content with just anything; they are always one or two steps ahead of others,” said President Milanović.

The President of the Republic underscored, concluding his address: “This is not just a building. It is three million euros of money that you absorbed from the EU, where they waited so Croatia and countries that need them could use them. My wish is for you to have as much preparation, discipline and training as possible, and for you to have to demonstrate your experience as least often as possible in real life. My wish is also that in ten years’ time such facilities will no longer be built with EU money, but with our money, because that will mean that Croatia has changed from being an EU recipient to a contributor. It will mean that we have progressed economically, that we are richer, more independent and that others will benefit from our help, and that we will enjoy all those benefits that are enjoyed today, more than by us, by the richest in the Union. I say this not out of envy, but out of sheer ambition and desire for success – precisely the desire that has driven generations of some people from the island of Brač to all corners of the world where I have witnessed their great strength, character and perseverance.”

Adviser to the President of the Republic for Human Rights and Civil Society Melita Mulić attended the ceremony alongside President Milanović.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek