ZAGREB, January 28, 2019 – President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović on Sunday dismissed media speculation that by replacing her home affairs advisor Mate Radeljić she has agreed a ‘non-aggression pact’ with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, noting that she would continue to warn of problems in the Croatian society as it was one of her duties as the president.
“I did not enter a pact with anyone, I will continue to warn of problems that exist in our society. It is my duty to be a corrective to the current situation… and care about the well-being of all Croatian citizens, regardless of my personal views and preferences, and I consider myself a modern conservative,” the president said in an interview with the N1 broadcaster.
Asked to comment on accusations from right-wing media outlets that she has agreed a ‘non-aggression pact’ with Prime Minister Plenković and was no longer on the right side of the political spectrum, the president said: “The president can actually not afford the luxury of being on one side of the political spectrum or the other, they must exclusively protect state interests and the interests of all Croatian citizens.”
Asked if she had announced to the prime minister that she would run for another term in office, Grabar-Kitarović said: “I cannot say that I have made such an announcement but I can say that we have discussed it.”
Asked about the fact that in the current parliament, practically one-third of members had crossed the floor to join other parties or other parliamentary groups, she said that voters would eventually decide about it. “I call on them to do so because it is their democratic right to show what they think about it and whether such transfers are legal or not.”
She added that floor-crossing had to be motivated by “the general well-being and not one’s own career or survival on the political scene.”
Speaking about Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava’s posting on the town’s web site video footage of children from Vukovar who did not stand up for the national anthem at a local football match, Grabar-Kitarović said that one did not have to love their country but that its institutions and symbols had to be respected.
“On the other hand, when children are concerned, we absolutely must not manipulate them. They are, of course, an indicator of adults’ way of thinking, but we should all ask ourselves about such phenomena, why they happen and how as a society we should respond to them. Evidently through education, discussion, inclusiveness and understanding of the problem,” she said.
She warned that apart from depopulation and problems which other parts of the country were also faced with, Vukovar “still has unhealed war wounds”.
“Issues from the past – prosecution of war crimes and other war-related issues – must be solved but one should also turn to the future, create jobs and bring investors to Vukovar,” said the president.
More news on the Croatian president can be found in the Politics section.
