The Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, in cooperation with the European Commission, organised in Zagreb from 5 to 7 June 2023 a meeting of the members of the INFORM EU network led by the European Commission and comprising communicators on EU funds from all EU Member States. The visit takes place each time in another Member State and this time Croatia was elected as host country, i.e. the city of Zagreb.
Visits to successful EU projects were organised as part of the event, with 100 INFORM EU members visiting Karlovac. As part of their visit to Karlovac, they visited Aquatic – the freshwater aquarium Karlovac, Nikola Tesla Experience Center and Meduza, Logo, as examples of successfully implemented EU-funded projects.
These projects were visited by Monika Hencsey, Director-General for Regional and Urban Development of the European Commission, followed by a visit to Europe Direct Karlovac, where she also met with local media.
„I am happy to be here today in Karlovac on behalf of the European Commission in a special year in which Croatia will celebrate 10 years of EU membership and where you joined the euro and the Schengen zone. I think that Croatia has proven its European heritage and how important it is for the European Union. Karlovac is the great place we are witnessing" said Hencsey to journalists..“, rekla je Hencsey novinarima .
It reiterated that Croatia has EUR 9 billion at its disposal in the new financial period until 2027, which will continue to invest in development with a greater focus on green energy, digital and on reducing the gap between poorer and richer regions, thus focusing on mountainous regions, but also on demography and creating conditions for increasing the population especially in rural areas.
She also put forward an interesting idea to further promote Karlovac in the European Union: “you would need to film Netflix’s Nikola Tesla film. Some of us did not know that he lived here and was trained. You have a great story to tell the EU. In addition, you have many rivers and clean and drinking water is very important. Today, we are struggling with a lack of energy, it is costly and scarce. I believe that in the future, water will be what is today’s energy. Managing your rivers in a clean and sustainable way is what will give you even more visibility in Europe. I really hope you will use more renewable, geothermal energy when I arrive next. These are long-term investments that the Cohesion Fund can finance" said Hencsey. „Trebali biste snimiti Netflixov film o Nikoli Tesli. Neki od nas nisu znali da je on ovdje živio i školovao se. Imate izvrsnu priču za ispričati u EU. Osim toga imate mnogo rijeka, a čista i pitka voda je vrlo važna. Danas se borimo s nedostatkom energije, skupa je i oskudna. Vjerujem da će u budućnosti voda biti ono što je današnja energija. Upravljanje vašim rijekama na čist i održiv način je ono što će vam dati još više vidljivosti u Europi. Stvarno se nadam i da ćete, kada dođem idući puta, koristiti više obnovljive, geotermalne energije. To su dugoročne investicije koje kohezijski fond može financirati“ rekla je Hencsey.
At the end of the visit, we walked through the Star so that our guests could see projects in implementation and where EU funds go.
