ZAGREB, February 21, 2018 – President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović will not sign the appointment of Boris Blažeković as Croatia’s consul general in New York, a source from her office said on Wednesday, after his political comments on social media caused a storm and a negative response from New York’s Croat community.
“The nomination hasn’t arrived and if it does, we won’t sign it,” the president’s office said, adding that they had notified Prime Minister Andrej Plenković last week.
Blažeković, of the Croatian People’s Party (HNS), was nominated by the government as part of agreements between the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and its coalition partner HNS. The parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee green-lit the nomination, but he cannot be appointed without the president’s signature.
The Foreign Ministry would not comment today.
After it was announced that Blažeković would be appointed consul in New York, the media dug up his negative comments on US President Donald Trump and his voters, as well as on Grabar-Kitarović and Plenković. Blažeković said he wrote those comments as a politician when he did not know that he might become a consul.
He has also been criticised for not having a university degree. The media also reported that the news of his possible appointment was not well-received by the Croat community of New York.
