Foreign and European Affairs Minister Gordan Grlić Radman 11 February 2020 met with Turkey’s Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan.
The two ministers underscored traditionally excellent relations between Croatia and Turkey, expressing satisfaction with the bilateral visit dynamic during 2019, which continued in 2020.
Grlić Radman and Pekcan discussed the two countries’ economic cooperation as well as prospects of deepening it in the areas of energy, IT, agriculture and food industry. Grlić Radman underlined satisfaction with Turkey’s investments in Croatian tourism, welcoming future investments in other sectors too.
Pekcan asked that Croatia, as the country presiding over the EU, assist in launching negotiations on the modernization of the Customs Union with Turkey as soon as possible.
She also finds it necessary to hold as soon as possible a meeting of the mixed economic committee and start talks on modernizing the cooperation framework.
Grlić Radman familiarized Pekcan about the priorities of the Croatian presidency, stressing that we would continue to push for a constructive dialogue with Turkey as an EU membership candidate and an important strategic partner. For Croatia, the continuation of a credible enlargement policy is extremely important and our presidency is placing emphasis on that. Both Croatia and Turkey are facing migration and security challenges of the Mediterranean and Eurasian space and are open to continuing bilateral cooperation in that regard.