ZAGREB, April 14, 2018 – Ivan Vrdoljak, the leader of the Croatian People’s Party (HNS), a junior partner in the ruling coalition, told a press conference on Friday that it was good that the vote on the Istanbul Convention was over and that now the focus should be on “important and greater problems.”
Asked whether dissenting views in the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) about voting on the Istanbul Convention could destabilise that party and consequently the government, Vrdoljak said that he didn’t think the government would be shaken.
“We can now concentrate on important matters. GDP is growing, foreign debt is decreasing, industrial production and exports are growing. We have many challenges ahead of us, so I don’t expect any problems in the government,” he added.
Vrdoljak recalled that nine months ago, when it entered government, the HNS made a difficult but resolute decision to stabilise the political scene in the country. “Now it’s obvious to everyone that that was a good move,” he said.
The head of the opposition Istria Democratic Party (IDS) said on Friday that by ratifying the Istanbul Convention “despite unprecedented pressures,” parliament made the only right decision. “It’s also the first concrete step so that we can provide women and all victims of violence with better protection, at the level of the most developed European Union countries,” Boris Miletić said, adding that it was now up to state institutions to implement the Convention’s provisions as comprehensively as possible.
In Istria County, “all regional and local institutions will be an honest and good partner on that road,” he said, adding that he was pleased that the Amsterdam Coalition, of which the IDS is part, was the first to insist that the ratification of the Convention be put on the agenda.
“Now we can turn to resolving the other amassed problems,” Miletić said, adding that the most important thing was that the ratification of such an important document legitimised Croatia as a modern state and society.
