Minister Grlic Radman chaired on Tuesday the last EU Foreign Affairs Council session in trade configuration under the Croatian Presidency.
The EU ministers agree that a new head of the WHO "should be elected as soon as possible, to avert leaving the organisation without leadership in a critical moment," the Croatian minister said.
Roberto Azevedo announced that he would resign from the office of the WTO Director-General, a year before the official end of his term. He has been the head of the WTO since 2013, and he is leaving in challenging times.
As of December last year, the WTO is no longer able to reach final decisions in trade disputes as the USA had blocked the appointing judges to the Appellate Body.
The Office of the US President, Donald Trump, calls for extensive reforms of the WTO, but does not specify what they should look like and does not support compromise proposals endorsed by the majority of the 164 WTO members.
"We agree that what we need is a strong political person who will know how to articulate the WTO interests," Grlic Radman said, adding that Croatia was committed to free trade and to strengthening the role of the WTO. The minister also said that no names were mentioned at the video conference.
The health crisis has revealed weak points in global trade, the EU ministers agree, and Grlic Radman emphasised that global trade in particular should remain the major growth driver and that it was the key to recovery.