ZAGREB, December 30, 2019 - President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović called at an election rally in Split on Sunday for coming together and unity, saying that in the January 5 second round of the presidential election the people would define Croatia's course and future.
This is not an election for Kolinda or (Zoran) Milanović, this is the people's election, she said, adding that she wanted January 5 to be the day when people voted for a strong and better Croatia. "Let's vote for new patriotism in 2020."
"My ethical, moral values, my work habits, my relationship with you, my respect for the people who elected me, from whom the power in this state comes and belongs to, that must be in the service of every person and that's what I will continue to do over the next five years."
Grabar-Kitarović called for saying "no to divisions, no to Milanović, no to going the old, no to recession, no to the region."
She said she was worried because of divisions and insults in society, and that this was a brutally dirty campaign. "Instead of a programme, we have heard only insults. Croatian society can't go on like that... Let's confront programmes and ideas for Croatia's development."
She said she was also worried because it seemed that people in Croatia had forgotten too quickly what it was like five years ago. She said Milanović's "political legacy is divisions and spitting on everything."
Grabar-Kitarović said she did not separate voters as "mine and those of others. You are all mine. Croatia is for everyone."
"We must all come and work together when it comes to Croatia. I have been and will remain the president of all Croatian citizens, wherever they live," she said, adding that she wanted to pursue "what we began in 2015, change, a turnaround, growth."
Later in the day, the incumbent president held a rally in Imotski, where she thanked its veterans who took part in the defence of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
She underlined how important it was for Croatia to support BiH and the Croatian people in BiH because "we are one heart and one soul and no one can separate us."
"Croatian borders are secure today, but we would never wish to put up barriers or wire towards BiH where our Croatian people lives as autochthonous, equal and constituent, whose second homeland is BiH."
Grabar-Kitarović said she would fight for the rights of the Croatian people in BiH and for BiH to join the European Union as soon as possible. "That will enable a better life for everyone in BiH as well as an even stronger connection between Croats on both sides of the border."
A prerequisite for that, she added, is the equality of Croats in BiH. "I won't allow any outvoting, any insults. I will fight for your voice to be heard and for you to decide on BiH's future together with the others."
She said all Croats in the world were welcome in Croatia which, she added, was not perfect, urging them not give up on Croatia.
More news about presidential elections can be found in the Politics section.
