Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development and EU Funds Management Branko Grcic held talks with Polish officials -- Regional Development Minister Elzbieta Bienkowska and Polish Senate Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz -- in Split on Monday about possibilities for the development of bilateral cooperation and Poland's experience during its accession to the European Union and absorption of EU funds.
"The key word in our talks was investments and we should look at EU funds only through that aspect. We in Croatia must know what our national priorities are and European funds are only one of the sources for financing," Grcic said adding that the current government's strategy is to restart investments.
He said Croatia should also follow Poland's example in the use of EU funds.
According to Grcic, his ministry is now working on facilitating the implementation of 200 small-scale projects in the total amount of one billion kuna in units of local self-government.
The Polish Minister Bienkowska said that this and next year the European Union would hold discussions on the EU framework budget from 2014 to 2020, and that Poland and Croatia should show the benefits of pursuing regional policies for the sake of the equal development of the Union.
Senate Speaker Borusewicz said he was confident Croatia would not end up like Greece and that it would follow Poland's path.
The Croatian and Polish officials arrived in the biggest Croatian coastal city to attend a conference on regional development and EU funds.
