ZAGREB, February 12, 2019 – The chairman of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union’s (HDZ) committee on information, IT, media and digital society and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković’s national security adviser, Robert Kopal, said on Tuesday that he did not take part in writing even one sentence of a controversial statement of confidentiality, adding that the statement sent to members did not reflect the party’s stance and was sent as a result of “internal discrepancies.”
HDZ sent its members a statement of confidentiality which, if they were to sign it, would oblige them to never disclose any information about the party without prior approval. The statement, among other things, noted the obligation not to disclose any information even before a court, which is contrary to the Criminal Procedure Act.
Responsibility for the wording of the confidentiality statement lies with the company hired by HDZ – Apicura Business Intelligence, which has subsequently said that it will alter the statement.
Kopal told reporters that HDZ did not take part in writing even one sentence of the statement nor does the statement in any way express the party’s stance and opinion. “The statement is considered to be null and void. Members have absolutely no obligation under that statement. It was compiled by the company with which a contract was signed to support us and to monitor the process of alignment with the European directive and all relevant regulations regarding data protection. A new statement will be drawn up,” Kopal said.
Asked how it was possible that the statement was sent to the party’s members, Kopal said that was due to “internal discrepancies,” and as far as responsibility for that mistake is concerned, “it will be resolved internally.”
“A lack of coordination occurred at the lower levels,” Kopal added and expressed regret that the incident occurred. “We will fix that and correct it,” he added.
Asked why no one in the party’s leadership read the statement before it was sent to the party’s members, Kopal said that “if the party’s leadership had to read every paper it planned to send and announce, that would lead to a problem in the party’s leadership.”
He claimed that no one from HDZ was involved in writing the statement and said that possible consequences could arise regarding further cooperation with the Apicura Business Intelligence company.
“Various consequences are possible, like cancelling the contract. However, for now we have called for urgent changes and we want to see a statement that truly reflects the HDZ’s stance and opinion and complies with the directive,” Kopal underlined.
Apicura Business Intelligence was selected because it has certain references in that area and several certificates of information security. It assists companies in adapting to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Kopal added that the company had expressed its regret for this mistake. “They simply applied corporate rules to democratic rules, which is unacceptable,” Kopal underlined.
More news on the HDZ can be found in the Politics section.
