SDP President and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović held a press conference on January 27, 2016, Novi List reports, which he started by saying: “I hope that our colleagues from MOST now know whom they have brought to power in Croatia.”
“This is no accident, this is a pattern of behaviour. The accident is just the fact that it was discovered as early as it was. Veterans Affairs Minister Crnoja must be removed within 24 hours. Otherwise, we will launch impeachment proceedings in Parliament to remove him”, said Milanović.
He also commented on HDZ’s charges that the party was robbed of five to six seats in the Parliament during the elections. Milanović said that would mean a minimum of 80,000 votes had to be stolen. He then showed the official results of the elections signed by State Election Commission President Branko Hrvatin. “Against who has he now filed a criminal complaint? Against himself? I wish Mr. Hrvatin would comment on this. It is incomprehensible that the President of the State Election Commission and of the Supreme Court files a criminal complaint two months after publication of the results that he himself signed, and he does it on the basis of a statement of a man who is fighting for his position in his party”, he added alluding to HDZ president Tomislav Karamarko.
Milanović also strongly criticized yesterday’s right-wing protest against the three-day ban on Z1 television, calling it “a philo-Fascist march”. “This is what HDZ brings and we will fight against it. If necessary, we are ready to go out on the streets. The mob led by two philo-Nazis, one of whom is the Vice-Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, breaks into an independent regulatory body and threatens a citizen giving her Chetnik insignia and the government says nothing. Mr. Orešković must not remain silent, if he wants us to call him Prime Minister Orešković”, said Milanović and continued talking about Ivan Tepeš, the newly-elected Vice-Speaker who took part in the march.
“The gentleman is in his spare time the Vice-Speaker, and for the rest of the time, he is a street instigator who should also be removed from office. All this just shows what kind of right-wing parties Croatia has. Decent Christian-Democratic parties should have nothing to do with them”, added Milanović and threatened once again: “Do not provoke us and make us, decent citizens, take to the streets to show you what we think of you. We do not want to go out to the streets, but the philo-Nazis should know that we are not afraid”, he concluded.
Milanović was also asked about possible removal of Dragan Lozančić, head of the Security Intelligence Agency, for allegedly not informing President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović that she was spending time in the company of people who were under surveillance. “In principle, if you spend your time with the underworld which has financed your election campaign and your birthday parties, then not even CIA can help you, let alone Dragan Lozančić. As for Lozančić, they can remove him, but Mrs. Kitarović and I know what he did for Croatia. He did what Mrs. Kitarović and people similar to her cannot do in five terms in office”, said Milanović, who was also asked whether there could be a reduction in human rights in Croatia similar to what has happened in Poland. “No way, Croatia will fight. I can tell them – no passaran”, said Milanović.
