Some questions for the Croatian President from the Commission on Conflict of Interest.
The Commission on Conflict of Interest announced today that it will initiate proceedings against Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović and has asked her to send her written response to allegations. The Commission added that it was not actually investigating a conflict of interest, but the issue of whether President’s actions were appropriate, reports Novilist on January 20, 2016.
The issue is what the President did with the money she had received as a reimbursement of costs for her election campaign. “The President paid the money, a total of 1,167,000 kuna, into a HDZ account, which means that she has waived her right to reimbursement. The unused funds which have been received are considered to be taxable gains which must be included in tax reports sent to the tax authorities and the tax liabilities have to be paid. The President gave the money to the party so she would not have to pay taxes.”
“At issue is the fact that the money became the property of HDZ, and she no longer had the right to use it. The President has brought her own credibility in question, since as President she had to resign from the party and it was not appropriate for her to cooperate with the political party in matters which are not connected with official affairs and with her powers as President. The problem is that she has given up the money, but then decided for which charities it should be used. She acted as a member of the party, which was wrong”, said the Commission.
The Commission also discussed the issue of outgoing Defence Minister Ante Kotromanović, who recently travelled with his family in a private jet to Lošinj. The Commission decided that there was a conflict of interest, since the flight to Lošinj and back costs more than 28,000 kuna, and the law on conflict of interest prohibits officials from accepting gifts worth more than 500 kuna.
The Commission also reported that it had rejected a complaint against outgoing Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, two complaints against HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko and one against outgoing Health Minister Siniša Varga.
