Croatia joined the bloc on 1 July 2013.
Today, this is an opportunity to send a message about the achievements accomplished by Croatia as an EU member, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at the event organised by Croatian member of the European Parliament, Dubravka Suica.
During his speech, Plenkovic recalled that the aggression against Croatia and its war of independence made the country's journey towards the EU more difficult. He said that he would continue pursuing the mainstream policies and oppose populism.
We won't fall into a trap of resorting to the rhetoric of those parties that are on the extreme sides of the political spectrum. I have reiterated that over and over again and I fight against populism and advocate mainstream views, the Croatian PM said.
Apart from Plenkovic, other speakers at this conference were the European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, the European People's Party (EPP) leader Joseph Daul, and the chairman of the EPP group, Manfred Weber, the EPP Women chairwoman Doris Pack, and the head of the European Commission's Representation in Zagreb, Branko Baricevic.
Tajani said that Croatia's membership has produced good things for both Croatia and the EU. He noted that over the past three years, Croatia's GDP had risen at a higher rate than the EU average.
Dual spoke about the EPP contribution to the admission of Croatia to the bloc.
Weber said that Croatia was bringing fresh, new ideas into the EU and was promoting a joint European future.