Barnier says Croatia's presidency crucial for EU's unity

Zagreb – Chief EU negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier visited the Croatian Parliament on Wednesday where he met with members of the European and Foreign Affairs committees. The main focus of the talks was on possible Brexit scenarios and the fact that negotiations on the new EU-UK relations could start during the Croatian EU Presidency. 

Croatia takes over the six-month chairmanship of the EU on 1 January 2020.

Croatia's presidency of the Council of the EU in 2020 will be crucial for the EU's unity, Michel Barnier said to reporters outside the government offices in Zagreb.

We should work on the unity of 27 member-states so as to enable agreement with the United Kingdom, not against it but with it, because the UK will remain our partner and friend in any case, Barnier said.

He also said that one should start working as soon as possible on what, in his opinion, is more important than the divorce with Great Britain - a new, strong relationship within the EU.

Earlier in the day, Barnier met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, with whom later in the day he attended a dialogue with citizens on Europe's future at Zagreb's Faculty of Economics.