ZAGREB, March 13, 2019 - Commenting on the Independent Democratic Serb Party's (SDSS) view of the situation in the ruling coalition, which that party made public recently, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that it had been his ambition since 2016 to try and reduce polarisation in Croatia and that he wanted each member of national minorities in Croatia to feel well.
Speaking to reporters on the margins of an event marking the 25th anniversary of the cooperation and partnership between Croatia and the World Bank, Plenković said that all outstanding issues would be discussed at a meeting to be held with SDSS leader Milorad Pupovac.
He added that his plan since 2016 had been to reduce polarisation in the Croatian society.
"Polarisation at the time was excessive for a society such as ours. I am working on reducing polarisation in my own way, gradually, but I don't have the impression that there is always understanding for what we do," said Plenković.
He said that at the time when he formed his government, he wanted all minority representatives in the parliament to be a part of the parliamentary majority. "That was my ambition because I think that it's good and healthy for our society. My hand is extended to all of them, I want them to live as befits the state of civilisation in 2019," he said.
He said that both this and last year the government had significantly increased funding to address minority groups' economic issues, housing construction and infrastructure issues.
"I want every Roma, Italian, Serb, Bosniak, Albanian, Czech, Hungarian and Slovak to feel well in Croatia. I want a society whose majority, because it is a majority, has the breadth, freedom and commitment to respect everyone living with us," he said, adding that not everyone on the political scene supported such a policy.
SDSS leader Pupovac has said on several occasions that his party is considering leaving the ruling coalition and last week he said that this had to do with hate speech that was being encouraged by the ruling structures.
At a party meeting held on Monday the SDSS decided that it would not leave the ruling coalition, authorising Pupovac and the party's parliamentary group to discuss the situation with the coalition partners.
More news about national minorities in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.
