Dr. Ivo Sanader, the Prime Minister of Croatia, adressed the IDU Party Leaders’ Meeting in Paris, June 2008. Prime Minister Sanader spoke of the importance of ideas in politics, and the valuable function of the IDU as a forum for exchanging ideas between centre-right parties across the globe. He praised the diversity among the represented parties, and underlined how this diversity is a product of a realistic view of politics: Shared values and ideas, he pointed out, will lead to different outcomes in different countries.
Prime Minister Sanader also spoke of how the centre-right should embrace globalization, and find ways to co-operate in an interconnected world where traditional state borders are made less relevant. He linked this approach to how his party, the Croatian Democrat Union, became the country’s most successful political force – by opening up to Euro-Atlantic integration and global trends, while reasserting their own identity. Through this approach, the Croation Democrat Union showed true leadership, and won parliamentary elections again in 2007.
Read the full speech:
Ivo_Sanader_at_the_IDU_Party_Leaders_Meeting_2008.pdf