 Felly, ddiolch, Yma. Ieithio, mae'n meddwl i'r ddechrau. Mae'n ddiddordeb yn gwbl yn ei trefio. A oedd yma, mae'r ddechrau'n ddifu y Prifysgol. Mae'n ddiddordeb yn ddifu arwyrd. Yn ymddi'r ddifu. Yn ymddi'r ddifu. Yn ymddi'r ddifu. Mae'n ddifu. Mae'n ddifu yma, mae'n ddifu'n ddifu'n ddifu. Mae'n ddifu'n ddifu'n ddifu'n ddifu. The youngest member of the union is plain, the contribution that in particular you have and your colleagues within Croatia have made to coming out of your way, the far side of the union really to be with us and we're looking forward very much to what you have to say to us and you've also very generously undertaken to answer questions. Before I move to that particular position, can we turn these off please? I'll put them on silent, one or the other. Deputy Prime Minister, you have the floor. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it's really a privilege to be here. I'm almost at the end of my official visit to Ireland and when we were preparing for the trip I was asked there was an option to do something else or come here. And although the other thing was a little bit also challenging, I said no, I think it's important to have also this kind of debate and possibility to speak so I'm really great that you all have come here and I hope that the view from Croatia to how the use moving forward will be an interesting one. Personally I have been working on European integration of Croatia since ever, that's my feeling. I was in different positions but I started in 90s when I was member of Croatia, became member of European movement international, Europe houses, federation and the NGOs and then in 2000s when the path was open for the EU. New members to start accession or to start preparation for EU. From the private sector I joined the government because it was my firm belief and still is that for transition country it was very important to go along this way and through transformation. Become through our European member states and although at the beginning we thought our path will be much shorter, we thought we were relatively developed, we were relatively ready, we were relatively small to challenge any big issues for European Union. However the path was twice as long as we would have wished and we thought at the beginning for different reasons. However I think now when looking back I think it was good for Croatia because the way of transformation of a country is a very painful one, very long one and it always needs more time than what one would think. But now officially to come to my presentation, the chairman queen, the director general Andrews, the members of the institute, excellencies ladies and gentlemen. Of course thank you for introductory words. At the outset I would really like to express my appreciation to the distinguished institute of international and European affairs for inviting me to speak to you today in Dublin. It is a great pleasure to be here. I had really an engaged and interesting day of my first official visit to Ireland which gave me really a great opportunity to discuss with my Irish colleagues and friends topics of mutual interest and concern and you may imagine that there were many. The topic I will speak about is of course of great importance to all of us in the European Union and beyond. Therefore the project entitled the future of the Europe 27 which the institute initiated with the support of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a very timely and a commendable one project. I will speak today about a few topics of our specific interest namely Brexit and enlargement as well as our view of the future of the European Union and finished by outlining Croatian preparations and priorities of our first EU presidency in the first half of 2020. So first let me start with Croatia in recent years. Before outlining Croatian views on our joint challenges and way forward allow me to say a few words on Croatia's path in recent years which will enable a better understanding of our views today. Croatia will soon mark the fifth anniversary of joining the European Union. I can still recall the warm words of Tunisia Gilmore who welcomed us to the European family on the main square in Zagreb. It was a day of celebration. Our path to membership was far from easy. It started with defending our freedom from military aggression a quarter of a century ago. This resulted in a high human losses and suffering as well as damages that amounted to approximately 150% of our pre-war GDP. One third of the country's infrastructure was destroyed and almost one third of the country occupied for a certain time. This was our reality in 1995. Croatia always strongly believed in the European project and our EU membership was one of our most important foreign policy goals. One of our key steps towards the European Union was taking during the Irish presidency of the Council of the European Union, getting the candidate status in 2004. Somehow Ireland always was at important points in time with Croatia. We appreciate greatly that Ireland provided continuous support to our EU membership. We are proud to have come a long way. Croatia is today a country with a steady GDP growth, increase of industrial production and exports, positive employment trends, a country with more than 18 million visitors with tourism flourishing every year. These positive results are also a reflection of the positive effects of our membership of the European Union. Now on the future of the European Union. How does Croatia view the future of the European Union? Our view is that all processes and initiatives aiming at deeper integration should be open and inclusive to all member states on equal basis if they choose to participate. All future discussions need to bring us closer and not further apart. We need to stay united and both realistic and ambitious in this endeavour. The success of the European project lies in our unity, trust and solidarity among member states. The starting point in that process is to strengthen the democratic legitimacy and efficiency of EU institutions. To strengthen the political and economic influence of the European Union on global scale and to ensure growth and tangible results of EU policies for the everyday life of EU citizens. Croatia hopes to be part of the core Europe and has clearly expressed its intention and readiness for deeper integration by joining both Schengen and Eurozone. It is our joint responsibility to provide leadership to regain the trust of our people in the European project and to counter ever-growing populism. Our values are of greatest strength, democracy, human rights, freedom, equality and the rule of law are not only our wave of life and our trademark but also can be our best export product. To that end, it is particularly important for our citizens that we deliver on our common priorities, such as strengthening cohesion and convergence throughout the European Union, creating new jobs, especially for youth, harnessing the potentials of digitalisation, upgrading social dimension of Europe, strengthening security of our citizens and developing further the global role of the European Union. Especially through continuing own merit-based EU enlargement policy and promoting European values. One of our common achievements is a European social model that we now need to adapt to challenges of modern societies while taking into account national differences and capacities. Croatia therefore fully supported the idea of a social, prosperous and sustainable Europe reinforced by the Rome Declaration to achieve our goal ambitious we need a strong and more effective common foreign and security policy and common foreign and defence policy that will enable us to better protect our citizens and secure our interests. We also welcome the further strengthening of the European cooperation in the security and defence dimensions throughout the establishment of PESCO, which Croatia and Ireland joined. To conclude the thoughts of the future of Europe, I would like to emphasise that Croatia welcomes the idea of targeted debates and dialogue to help our citizens to perceive more clearly the advantages that membership in the EU brings to their daily lives as well as bring better understanding of our activities and actions at the European level. There is always space to bring Europe closer to our citizens. I commend my Irish colleagues on their successful efforts in achieving that end. Now on challenges. Building a positive future on concrete achievements is also the best way forward for facing and addressing our shared challenges. The challenges are various and complex. Security threats, terrorism, climate change, migration, demographic changes to name just a few. They are both internal and external and therefore they require both internal and external answers and measures. The only way to tackle them and find sustainable solutions is by taking responsibility and putting our knowledge and resources together. The best way to do it is by standing and working together in the European Union. This is at the same time what our citizens expect from us. Now on Brexit. One of the unprecedented challenges for all of us is the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. We are well aware of the importance of all the concerns Brexit poses for Ireland. Croatia regrets the decision of United Kingdom to leave the European Union. The United Kingdom has been an important contributor in many EU policies, one of the biggest contributors to our budget and a member state of exceptional global outreach. It is a decision we regret but we have to respect at the same time. Brexit will happen in a year time and everybody will have to adapt to a new reality. It is another challenge we are facing that requires joint answers. Our common responsibility is to secure orderly withdrawal of the UK which will ensure legal security and clarity for our citizens and businesses. The negative impact of the EU and its member states should be as limited as possible. As for the impact of Brexit on Croatia, we are not among the most affected member states. There are not so many Croatian citizens in the UK and UK is not among our main trading partners. Nonetheless, we were carefully following the negotiations regarding financial settlement. As well as the question of citizens rights, in this context we welcome UK's recent decision not to prolong transitional measures for Croatian workers after June 30th this year, which puts them on equal footing with the other EU 26 citizens ahead of Brexit. The unity of member states and our firm support to the European Union chief negotiator Barnier is so far yielding results. It seems that the UK is becoming aware that there are issues caused by their decision to withdraw from the European Union that must be solved before we can discuss future relations, including the impact that Brexit will have on Ireland. It is our understanding that the current solution in the protocol regarding Ireland and Northern Ireland is a good base to continue negotiations based on the guarantee that the harder border will be avoided. We hope that there will soon be additional positive movements in that respect. I would like to stress once more that Croatia understands Irish concerns and strongly supports Ireland and our negotiating team in finding workable solution for preserving the commitments made under the Good Friday Agreement. It is an incredible coincidence that just at this time in the Holy Week it was only 20 years ago in 1998 that the terrible conflict of the Irish island has ended with a Good Friday Agreement. In Croatia at the same time the peaceful reintegration of eastern Slovenia was completed during the same year. The crowds and the Irish both understand the importance of peace because our memories of conflict and war are still fresh. We therefore have to keep reminding ourselves and other EU member states as well as our citizens that the greatest achievement of the European Union is value as a peace project. Both our Prime Minister and your Taoiseach have made a strong point of underlining the importance of peace in their speeches on the future of Europe in front of the European Parliament at the beginning of this year. Now on enlargement, this is also a fitting introduction for my next topic, enlargement. As you know, the process of reconciliation in the southeast Europe or western Balkans, if you wish, was supported by the EU throughout the stabilization and association process. That process sets up out common political and economic goals while progress is measured based on country own merits. Most importantly, the aim of the process is eventual EU membership. Although the EU is at the moment preoccupied with many internal debates and uncertainties, one of them being Brexit, we strongly believe that the EU's enlargement policy is, among other things, in essence an investment in the protection of our security and stability. For more than half a century, the European Union has been an area where peace, freedom, human dignity and prosperity were standards, not mere ideals. The enlargement policy was one of the key instruments to that end. Croatia is a proof of the transformative power inherent to the perspective of EU membership. We need to use that attraction and transformative force to make the southeast Europe countries stronger, more secure and prosperous, by helping them in their effort to be governed better and thus more resilient. By making them stronger, we make the European Union stronger and more secure as well. Croatia strongly believes that enlargement is of strong mutual interest to both EU and southeast European countries. We have to show credible commitment to all southeast European countries on the path to join the European Union. At the same time, these countries need to meet the set criteria and conditions and to carry out necessary reforms. While each has its own path based on individual achievements and merits, they must not be left alone. I am pleased that the European Commission has recently presented its new strategy for the western Balkans and welcomed the fact that the Bulgarian presidency put enlargement issues high on our agenda. Two weeks ago I visited Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania. All three countries have specific issues. They are trying to overcome and they all need our strong support in those endeavors. In our view, special attention should be paid to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country that had a difficult path in the past. The foundation for the future can only be the full equality of three constituent peoples, Croats, Bosniaks and Serbs, together with all others. Fair electoral legislation should contribute to ensuring and exercising equal rights. That would be the best answer to the unfortunate sense of political apathy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Only Bosnia and Herzegovina firmly rooted in European values can achieve its full potential and guarantee a secure and stable future to its citizens. That is also the wish of a significant majority of all of them. This is why we feel that making the European Union stronger and bigger are mutually reinforcing. The Croatian presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020 will take place 20 years after the Zagreb summit. The summit opened the way to all Southeast European countries to move closer to the European Union and thus marked a new phase reaffirming the European perspective of CE countries. Our intention is to mark this anniversary with a summit on enlargement Southeast Europe in 2020. On Croatian presidency, the upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2020 is one of the most important priorities of the Croatian government. We are looking forward to working together with all the member states on strengthening our union in a time of rapidly changing global landscape. We view it as a great honour and immense responsibility, but also as a valuable opportunity to contribute to the European project in a new role and to intensify cooperation with all partners in the European Union. As the youngest EU member state, we are devoting all our knowledge and resources to the preparation for this challenge. We have started organisational and logistic preparations for our presidency and we have also started discussions and preparations with our colleagues from Romania and Finland with whom we build the trio. I'm glad that the Croatian city of Rijeka and Galway will be European capitals of culture in 2020 during our presidency, which give us great opportunities for cooperation in different areas. The timing of Croatian presidency during first half of 2020 seems to be particularly interesting and challenging, given the complex period for the union as a whole. We will be finishing the current and entering a new institutional cycle. At the table are most probably also negotiations on a new multi-annual financial framework, Brexit probably, as well as further discussions on the all-encompassing project of the future of the European Union. During 2019's EU summit, new strategic documents for our common future will be prepared. Our intention is to take forward the priorities of the new strategic agenda as much in our national presidency programme. We have started reflecting on presidency priorities and we plan to work around the following one. Economic growth and employment, connectivity in particular, transport and energy, security all aspects and enlargement. In defining our priorities, we will be guided by the aim of further building the European project based on principles of equality, inclusivity and cohesion aimed at boosting European visibility for the benefit of all our citizens. Finally, Croatia is the youngest member that has a unique recent past being at the crossroads of Central Europe and the Mediterranean. We bring to the European family new ideas and new outlook. Most importantly, Croatia joined the European Union to participate fully and to work with our partners to further build and develop the European project. To conclude, allow me to quote the Holy Father, Pope Francis. When addressing European leaders in Rome last year, he stressed that, unlike human beings, the European Union does not face an inevitable old age but the possibility of a new youthfulness. Its success will depend on its readiness to work together once again and by its willingness to wager on the future. So let us jointly work wholeheartedly on a path for the European future which will clearly be the way forward. Thank you very much.