President of the Republic Participates in City of Rijeka Day Celebrations

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović participated in the formal session of City of Rijeka’s City Council, which was held to observe City Day and the feast of St. Vitus in Rijeka’s Croatian National Theatre. There was also an awards presentation.

“Rijeka is a specific city within Croatia, an open city with a history that is different from other parts of the country”, President Milanović noted. He referred to, as he put it, recent “foreign territorial pretensions and ambitions”. “This should not be taken too seriously. Perhaps with a dose of humour or even ridicule, but with some caution, because such speech in present-day Europe doesn’t sound good”, the President said.

He regrets that Rijeka was not fortunate as the European Capital of Culture, and was hit by the pandemic. “I really enjoyed the official opening. I didn’t see any ghosts or angels from the past but a retrospective of the identity and an indicator of which direction we’re headed”, President Milanović emphasized.

He remarked that during the mandate of his Government, some major projects had been launched for this region, which are presently underway. They include the new hospital, which was given new guarantees and for which the City of Rijeka ceded the land, and the D-403 highway for which plans had been drawn up then. “I am glad that the 3. Maj Shipyard is on its feet. It will be difficult to succeed due to the specific market, but I look at this with both optimism and caution”, he noted. He added that during the mandate of his Government in 2012, 3. Maj was in a dire situation and was saved by Uljanik Shipyard. “They came to their aid, arranged things according to their criteria, but it didn’t work out because they didn’t take it seriously”, said President Milanović.