First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Vesna Pusić 15 September visited Mursko Središće, where due to floods the Mura River was at the highest level in the town's history.
“It is obvious that what once was an anomaly will now have to be treated, due to climatic changes, as commonplace and we will have to begin preparing for these new circumstances,” Pusić said, adding that since such water levels were unprecedented, hardly anyone could had prepared for that. "It is a great thing that residents of Međimurje and Mursko Središće have protected their town and that only a few garages, a warehouse and an unoccupied house have been flooded," Pusić said, commending the coordination among the relevant services.
Accompanied by head of the Međimurje County, Pusić also visited Sveti Martin na Muri and Goričan. She said that Croatia, like most of Europe, was suffering unprecedented climate phenomena, which should be considered as a new EU project, adding that in the last 25 years damage from natural disasters had increased fivefold. Pusić said that it was an issue that the whole Europe needed to deal with, recalling her talks on the subject with the future European Commission president and adding that a regional flood protection project had been launched for Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia following floods caused by an overflowing Sava River in May this year. “We need a new approach to fighting floods, we cannot leave large swaths of arable land to remain unused,” the minister said, adding that that meant that we would have to introduce new infrastructure and new drainage models.
Pusić also said the tax payers’ money would not be thrown into the wind and that those most affected would be able to receive compensation. “Luckily, the damage is nowhere near that from the May floods, but that is thanks to good organization, which has prevented the water from reaching houses and other objects,” the minister said.