ZAGREB, 18 Feb 2022 - Croatia embarrassed itself by not spending any of the post-earthquake reconstruction money, so Brussels charitably extended the deadline, but is denying charity to Croats in Bosnia, President Zoran Milanović has said, blaming that on the incompetence of the foreign minister and the premier.
It's not a "total embarrassment," just an "embarrassment, he said on Friday, commenting on the European Commission's decision to extend the deadline until June 2023, to spend the money from the European Solidarity Fund for the post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb.
The president said reconstruction took time and that he accepted that not all the money could have been spent because "that's impossible."
Milanović said he had defended the government from attacks for the slow spending of those funds, but added that the government "has practically not absorbed anything" and that he "would have been proud had we utilized 50%."
He said that in Brussels Prime Minister Andrej Plenković "had to buttonhole someone, sponge" and that perhaps they laughed at Croatia and said, "give them this charity."
However, he said, Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina "can't be in a situation to ask for simple moldy charity."
They must not be accused of being a disruptive factor because BiH cannot exist without them, Milanović added.
For months he has been accusing the government of not being successful in Brussels in defending the demands of Croats in BiH for changing the election law in order to stop the Bosniak majority from electing their Presidency member and deputies in the Federation entity's upper house.
As an EU member state, Croatia has its vote and can oppose Brussels' decisions, he said.
Zagreb has not exercised that right to defend Croats in BiH, the president said, pointing the finger at Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman.
Croat representatives will have "my full support," Milanović said, adding that the Croatian government "can" and "must" block elections in BiH unless the election law is changed as demanded by local Croats.
He said it was unacceptable of foreign diplomats to say that the elections would be held regardless.
Criticisms against foreign minister
The president also commented on the failure to appoint Croatia's military envoy to NATO, saying that he was being asked only to sign the appointment, without directly participating in the process.
He said the foreign minister was the reason why he and the prime minister had not decided, even after six months, to relieve of duty all the ambassadors whose four-year terms had expired.
Milanović added that Grlić Radman "will do everything just to be liked by his boss."
He dismissed claims that Croatia does not have ambassadors because he, as the president, was pushing members of the Social Democratic Party as candidates.
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