ZAGREB, 26 April 2022 - President Zoran Milanović on Tuesday once again accused the PM of using methods of Yugoslav-era secret service UDBA in calling out generals for supporting a request that he pardon two former intelligence officers, and called on HDZ members to react or they would be his accomplices.
Speaking to the press, Milanović reiterated that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was "a protege of the communist regime" and that he had labelled the Homeland War generals supporting the pardon of former senior Yugoslav and Croatian intelligence officers Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač as "UDBA poodles", and said that he was a "perfidious, evil guy."
Milanović conceded that Plenković did not say literally "UDBA poodles", but remarked that by implying that the generals "were brought in by their ears to sign something" begged the question if they were "people with autonomy of will or just garbage."
Milanović said "UDBA fed (Plenković) when he was a child" because his mother worked in a military hospital and his father worked in the office of the director of Television Zagreb and taught communication studies during communism. A person with such parents "knew he was protected by UDBA," he added.
Milanović said "only people who passed UDBA's school" could accuse Homeland War generals "of being the promoters and protectors of UDBA officers."
He called on members of the ruling HDZ to oppose this and to realise that they were led by people using UDBA-style methods "who stop at nothing... to stay in power."
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