Milanović: The EU is an association of nation states and cannot be one state

Speaking at a ceremonial session of the Ogulin City Council on Friday, the Croatian President said that the EU is an association of nation states and cannot be one state. With regard to economic problems, he said that Croatia is living on debt and that without EU funds Croatia would be in serious trouble.

In his speech in Ogulin on Friday, President Zoran Milanović said that national borders between states and nations are not just a mere illusion, but are logical delineations that make sense because they protect: “The EU is not an empire, we are a society of nation states, each of which has its own peculiarities, history and culture, its own religion and churches, its own victories and defeats. Croatia, Portugal and Finland are three completely different worlds. And that is why they cannot be one state. And that's why anyone who fantasizes about it, talks about it or, even worse, works on it - should be watched."

Milanović noted that while there are not many people like that in Croatia, there are plenty of them in Europe, warning that: "These are fantasies of stupid ideas and concepts that end in human disaster."

Definitively rejecting the idea of turning the EU into a supranational entity, President Milanović said that after all these years of EU membership, he sees that the point of the whole story is to help each other as much as we can. “To make our lives easier financially, to trade, to exchange ideas and to live in a Europe without borders, although life without borders is only seemingly perfect, because it has its challenges and problems. Unlike the EU, we are in NATO because of the experiences of the last war, because of the aggressor, because of Belgrade, but not because we go to wars and not because we generate forces with the aim of going to wars.”

With regards to the economic situation in the country, President Milanović said that Croatia is living on debt, and that without European money the country would be in serious trouble: “We had a positive balance of payments for several years, now we are in the red again. And I don't see a way out of it with this kind of policy. If there were no European remittances, that hole would be even bigger. That is why it is very important to be strict with our finances, to cover ourselves so that we don't lack anything, but not to live on debt without thinking about how we will pay it back. We are in the red, and without European money we are in a hole. And European money will only continue for a little while. What then? The EU is not America, it cannot print euros as it pleases.”

Speaking about the funds that Croatia receives from EU funds, he also warned that these remittances will not contribute to the competitiveness and strength of the Croatian economy, or to Croatia's export profile, because the money from EU funds is mainly invested in upgrading, not in production: “Almost nothing that is financed from EU funds creates money. But, we have completely opened our borders, foreigners do whatever they want, produce whatever they want, sell us whatever they want without any restrictions. This is a warning that we are in a tough competitive game and if we give up tomorrow, someone will come and collect our debts.”

Source: HRT