ZAGREB, Oct 23, 2020 – Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Friday dismissed President Zoran Milanovic’s claim that he was in politics only for his own personal gain, noting that he would not tolerate Milanovic’s daily attacks on himself.
“Unlike him, I have made a huge contribution to Croatia’s European path since the start of my career while he did not even lift a finger in that regard,” Plenkovic said in a comment on a news conference held by Milanovic earlier in the day.
Recalling that as a former opposition leader Milanovic refused to chair the national committee in charge of Croatia’s EU accession talks, Plenkovic said that he (Plenkovic) ended up in Paris due to a conflict with former prime minister Ivo Sanader and not because of his own career ambitions.
Dismissing Milanovic’s statement that Plenkovic planned to continue his career in Brussels, the PM said that the president was trying to make him seem less credible in the same way his former SDP party and “the far right” were trying to do it.
He said that he would not tolerate such rhetoric and that he would respond to it every time with concrete arguments.
Noting that Milanovic was nervous every time the JANAF corruption case was mentioned, Plenkovic said that during his term in office he had met former JANAF CEO Dragan Kovacevic, who has been arrested for taking bribes, roughly three times but not in his private club.
Unlike Milanovic, who went there during the lockdown and two days after the disastrous earthquake in Zagreb, said Plenkovic.
Milanovic made a significant contribution to hate speech
The PM went on to say that Milanovic was trying to make his political opponents seem less credible and was labelling them, with those labels being picked up by people sending email threats.
He recalled his own statement of Thursday that Milanovic was definitely not the main instigator of radicalisation, extremism or terrorism, but noted that by making claims about his mother’s having worked as a doctor for the Yugoslav People’s Army, his being the son of a former member of the Yugoslav secret police and a Tudjman hater, Milanovic had made a significant contribution to hate speech.
On allegations of police mistreatment of migrants
Asked to comment on media reports that Croatian police abuse migrants, Plenkovic said that he expected a report from Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic on the matter.
He dismissed claims that he was stalling with regard to calling a session of the National Security Council, noting that the meeting required thorough preparation.
He also said that he did not have any problem regarding the work of the SOA intelligence agency director, but noted that he considers “information leaks to the media” interesting.
Common sense prevents epidemic from spreading
Asked about the possible imposition of a lockdown, Plenkovic said that it was the last option.
The government wants the economy and life to function and will pursue its policy based on lessons learned, appealing to citizens to be responsible, he said.
“I expect people to be responsible. There is nothing better than common sense in this situation, it prevents the epidemic from spreading.”
