{"id":42911,"date":"2026-04-25T19:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T17:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/?post_type=news&p=42911"},"modified":"2026-04-27T10:01:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:01:33","slug":"president-milanovic-warns-croatia-will-need-to-borrow-if-it-wants-to-maintain-current-budget-spending-levels","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-warns-croatia-will-need-to-borrow-if-it-wants-to-maintain-current-budget-spending-levels\/","title":{"rendered":"President Milanovi\u0107 Warns: Croatia Will Need to Borrow if It Wants to Maintain Current Budget Spending Levels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThe Resilience and Recovery Fund is now coming to an end; it\u2019s 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 \u2013 that\u2019s the reality,\u201d stated the President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 today in Stari Mikanovci, where he participated in the special session of the Municipal Council to mark the Municipality\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The President emphasized that Croatia has used its EU membership appropriately and correctly, making significant use of available funds over the past 13 years. \u201cThese have been projects aimed at improving communal, public, and social standards, as well as education, but they don\u2019t generate money. It\u2019s good that they were done and that they exist \u2013 things like drainage, sewage systems, and kindergartens. If it could continue like this, it would be fantastic, but it won\u2019t,\u201d said President Milanovi\u0107, adding that Croatia has \u201cgiven a lot\u201d for everything it has received from the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve fully opened our market to everyone. We\u2019ve failed to protect and promote our domestic production \u2013 it\u2019s gone, and it\u2019s disappearing. Croatia doesn\u2019t 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\u2019s still not enough. We don\u2019t produce enough food for our own needs, and that\u2019s not good. It\u2019s not yet critical, but in the long term, if we don\u2019t change, it\u2019s dangerous,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince joining the European Union 13 years ago, the EU has gone through a traumatic period \u2013 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\u2019s excellent at it. That\u2019s a success,\u201d said President Milanovi\u0107. He added that Croatia is part of this open market, \u201cand that\u2019s a good aspect of the European Union if you can manage it.\u201d However, he believes Croatia has failed to do so due to its inertia. \u201cWe are inert. It should never have happened that Croatia underperformed so much in food production. I\u2019m highlighting the reality: things are changing, and next year will be even more complicated,\u201d the President concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside President Milanovi\u0107, speakers at the special session included Djuro \u0160krget, the President of the Stari Mikanovci Municipal Council, Mario Milinkovi\u0107, the Head of the Municipality, and Ivan Bosan\u010di\u0107, the Prefect of Vukovar-Srijem County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the special session, President Milanovi\u0107, 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\u2019s Adviser for Local and Regional Self-Government Relations Nik\u0161a Peronja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia \/ Dario Andri\u0161ek<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Resilience and Recovery Fund is now coming to an end; it\u2019s 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 \u2013 that\u2019s the reality,\u201d stated the President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 today in Stari Mikanovci, where he participated in the special session of the Municipal Council to mark the Municipality\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":42910,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-42911","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Milanovi\u0107 Warns: Croatia Will Need to Borrow if It Wants to Maintain Current Budget Spending Levels - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-warns-croatia-will-need-to-borrow-if-it-wants-to-maintain-current-budget-spending-levels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Milanovi\u0107 Warns: Croatia Will Need to Borrow if It Wants to Maintain Current Budget Spending Levels - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThe Resilience and Recovery Fund is now coming to an end; it\u2019s over. 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