On December 9, Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia Andrej Plenkovic visited the Ukrainian Catholic University. He met with the rector of the University and gave a lecture for students on the "Future of Europe".
Source: UCU
The Croatian delegation also included Minister of Foreign and European affairs Gordan Grlić-Radman, Minister of Science and education Radovan Fuchs, Minister of the economy and sustainable development of the Republic of Croatia Tomislav Czorić, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Croatia to Ukraine Anica Djamić, head of the Office of Prime Minister Zvonimir Frka-Petesic-petešić), deputy head of the Office of the Prime Minister Tena Mišetić, Speaker of the Croatian government Marko Milić, special adviser to the Prime Minister of Croatia on Foreign Policy Vladimir Drobnjak, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Croatia in Ukraine Goran Prokopec, honorary consul of the Republic of Croatia in the Western Region Vitaly Zapukhlyak.
During the visit, the delegation met with the rector of the Ukrainian university Fr Bogdan Prakh and vice-rector for Strategic Development Sofia Opatskaya, vice-rector for Academic Affairs Dmitry Sherengovsky and head of the Department of international academic relations Halyna Protsyk.
Therefore, Prime Minister Andrey Plenkovich gave a lecture on the "Future of Europe" for UCU students. According to Andrei Plenkovic, Croatia has a lot in common with Ukraine – both countries gained independence 30 years ago. Croatia is behind the war, the loss and return of territories, political confrontation, and most importantly – the formation of the Republic as a member of NATO and the EU.
The prime minister also said that Croatia had many problems similar to Ukraine, including poor economic situation, migration, corruption and lack of transparency. However, the government has worked on reforms to strengthen the rule of law and fight corruption. Such actions were highly appreciated by the European Union.
After the lecture, the prime minister answered students ' questions: How can Ukrainians unite, crossing the line of contradictions for the sake of further development of the country; what about those countries that are not developing so fast in the field of innovation, such as the United States and Western Europe; what advice would be given to the younger generation to improve the situation of Ukraine etc.
Finally, Andrey Plenkovich wished the students of UCU enthusiasm in their studies and new ideas for the development of Europe and Ukraine.
Plenkovic has been the head of the Croatian government since October 2016. The last time the Croatian Prime Minister visited Kyiv was in August 2021, when he came to the summit "Crimean platform".
On the eve of December 8, during a meeting, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Andriy Plenkovich signed a joint declaration on Ukraine's European prospects they also held talks between the Ukrainian and Croatian sides in an expanded format.