ZAGREB, December 10, 2018 – Social Democratic Party president Davor Bernardić and MOST leader Božo Petrov agreed on Monday that parliament should have discussed the Global Compact on Migration, but while Bernardić strongly pushed for it, Petrov said it represented a threat to Croatia’s security, and Miro Kovač of the ruling HDZ told them they failed to launch a discussion on the document and that they were manipulating and misleading the public.
Bernardić said that when the agenda included topics on which the HDZ could not ideologically agree within its ranks, those topics were pushed aside. He said parliament could still discuss “such an important global agreement.” He said that by avoiding a debate, some were bringing unrest into the public sphere, scaring citizens with migrants and trying to score political points. He said migrants did not wish to stay in Croatia.
Bernardić said the Global Compact was not a typical agreement. “It is not signed and it is not ratified, but is a catalogue of measures referring to legal migration and UN member states can choose whether to incorporate them and which are the most acceptable to them.”
He said discussing the Global Compact did not suit the HDZ-led ruling majority “because they don’t want to confront the radically conservative citizens who voted for them and who see the agreement differently than the government.”
Petrov said the Global Compact was a threat to the security of Croatia and its citizens. “Since 2015, our neighbouring countries dealt with the migrant problem together with Croatia, yet today they refuse to go to Marrakesh. Why, if everything about this agreement is all right?”
He said the US, which was Croatia’s partner on its journey to independence, did not want to be part of the Global Compact. “Who will we ask for help when all neighbouring countries don’t want to be part of that pact? Juncker, whose idea is that not all EU member states are equal?” Petrov wondered why the Global Compact was not discussed at a parliamentary plenary session.
Kovač said Bernardić and Petrov could have submitted an interpellation or asked that a discussion on the Global Compact be put on parliament’s agenda. He added that a discussion on the document was organised by the Foreign Affairs Committee at his initiative, and accused Petrov and Bernardić of manipulation and disinformation.
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