On November 29, 2019, Croatia signed the Declaration on the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI), joining as one of the first wave of additional signatories alongside Cyprus, Greece, Finland, France, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden. According to the European Commission, the nine countries agreed to work with ten other EU member states toward the development of a quantum communication infrastructure across Europe.
Croatia designated Dr. Martin Lončarić from the Ruđer Bošković Institute as its EuroQCI Sherpa on September 19, 2019, in preparation for the signing. In a statement accompanying the declaration, Croatia noted it had “recognized quantum technologies as a key factor in its development and competitiveness in research and innovation systems in the next decade” and that its research institutions had “a huge potential for contribution in both theoretical and applied aspects.”
By signing, Croatia committed to exploring the development and deployment of a European quantum communication infrastructure with the European Commission and the European Space Agency over the following ten years. The EuroQCI declaration was originally launched in June 2019 at the Digital Assembly in Bucharest.