President Milanović Warns: Croatia Will Need to Borrow if It Wants to Maintain Current Budget Spending Levels
“The Resilience and Recovery Fund is now coming to an end; it’s over. What has been spent, has been spent. In the future, the state will lack a certain amount of funds it currently has. This will need to be replenished from somewhere if we want to maintain this level of budget spending, which is the main driver of growth in our country. So, debt or economic stagnation, lower growth or decline – that’s the reality,” stated the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović today in Stari Mikanovci, where he participated in the special session of the Municipal Council to mark the Municipality’s Day.
The President emphasized that Croatia has used its EU membership appropriately and correctly, making significant use of available funds over the past 13 years. “These have been projects aimed at improving communal, public, and social standards, as well as education, but they don’t generate money. It’s good that they were done and that they exist – things like drainage, sewage systems, and kindergartens. If it could continue like this, it would be fantastic, but it won’t,” said President Milanović, adding that Croatia has “given a lot” for everything it has received from the EU.
“We’ve fully opened our market to everyone. We’ve failed to protect and promote our domestic production – it’s gone, and it’s disappearing. Croatia doesn’t produce food. In these 13 years, Croatia has further weakened its financial balance. We are a country increasingly exposed to imports. We import everything, we export too little, and even when we factor in services like tourism, it’s still not enough. We don’t produce enough food for our own needs, and that’s not good. It’s not yet critical, but in the long term, if we don’t change, it’s dangerous,” President Milanović warned.
“Since joining the European Union 13 years ago, the EU has gone through a traumatic period – an era of sobering up and confronting the reality of what it truly is on the global stage. In all this, the European Union continues to produce food, and it’s excellent at it. That’s a success,” said President Milanović. He added that Croatia is part of this open market, “and that’s a good aspect of the European Union if you can manage it.” However, he believes Croatia has failed to do so due to its inertia. “We are inert. It should never have happened that Croatia underperformed so much in food production. I’m highlighting the reality: things are changing, and next year will be even more complicated,” the President concluded.
Alongside President Milanović, speakers at the special session included Djuro Škrget, the President of the Stari Mikanovci Municipal Council, Mario Milinković, the Head of the Municipality, and Ivan Bosančić, the Prefect of Vukovar-Srijem County.
After the special session, President Milanović, accompanied by the host, attended the cultural and artistic program and visited the exhibitors in the central park of Stari Mikanovci. Also present was the President’s Adviser for Local and Regional Self-Government Relations Nikša Peronja.
PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Dario Andrišek