ZAGREB, January 15, 2020 - Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) chief Krešo Beljak on Wednesday reiterated his apology over a tweet in which he justified political assassinations in ex-Yugoslavia, however, he found it hypocritical of those "who support war criminals and terrorists that disgraced Croatia" to criticise him.
"I have apologised and I am sincerely sorry. Of course, I do not support killings. I let myself be provoked and this is my big mistake," Beljak said, adding that in the future he obviously would have "to control it".
He said that it was hypocritical of those who support war criminals and terrorists that disgraced Croatia to call him out. He, however, stopped short of specifying who they are.
All that does not justify my conduct, said Beljak, who recently wrote that if UDBA, the Yugoslav intelligence agency, killed over 100 people in the Croatian emigrant community in the USA, Germany, Canada and Australia, "then it was not enough. We could see who did all sorts of shit and caused the wars from 1991 to 1999. Fascists in the former Yugoslavia and other countries who, unfortunately, managed to escape UDBA."
His tweet has been seen as an act of his condoning politically motivated assassinations of emigrants by UDBA during the time of communist-ruled Yugoslavia. Beljak has come under attack of politicians from the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) as well as from the opposition Bridge party.
In relation to HDZ vice president Milijan Brkić's statement that the "lukewarm distancing" of Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Davor Bernardić from Beljak's tweet disqualified him from any plan to be the country's prime minister, Beljak said today that it was clear that the HDZ, which lost the last two elections, would stick to criticising his controversial tweet.
Beljak, whose HSS is a coalition partner of the SDP, believes that Bernardić can be premier "as such are the trends".
Beljak said that the HDZ led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković "has made too many omissions in the last four years to again win the confidence of the people ".
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