ZAGREB, October 16, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Friday in Brussels dismissed claims that Monday's attack on Government House could have occurred anywhere and condemned any approval or downplaying of that grave crime by the right and left.

In a statement to the press on Thursday Plenkovic hinted that he personally was the target of the attack on Government House that occurred on Monday because certain individuals in political and media circles incite intolerance and hate towards him.

He also hinted that President Zoran Milanovic was among those who used that sort of language against him in the 2016 election campaign.

Milanovic later posted on Facebook that the "tragedy could have occurred anywhere and that its roots lie elsewhere."

Social Democratic Party leader Pedja Grbin said that he saw the incident as an attack on Croatian institutions located in St. Mark's Square and that it was "unacceptable that Plenkovic is trying to portray himself as the victim."

It was premeditated 

"... I watched the recording of the attack and it is clear that the attack was not intended to occur anywhere else but was premeditated and deliberately committed in St. Mark's Square, where the government is located," Plenkovic told the press on Friday.

"The perpetrator of that horrific crime didn't go to the President's Palace, he didn't go to Nova Gradiska, where Mr Grbin's headquarters are, nor in front of any other building but came in front of Government House," said Plenkovic.

He sharply condemned and approval any downplaying of the attack on Government House.

"You have two trends, the extreme right, Skoro and that sort of people, who virtually approve and have understanding for that horrific crime. On the other hand, you have the left that is downplaying and minimising it."

"If the prime minister was from SDP's ranks, I would be the first to condemn it and show solidarity and call on the competent bodies to investigate it and establish the motive. That's the difference," he said.

He added that there was no room for concern that the current situation could jeopardise media freedoms, noting that despite the numerous insults and defamation he had been exposed to, he had never sued anyone.

Milanovic is perfidious

Plenkovic also commented on Milanovic's negating that he had sown the seed of hate against Plenkovic.

"The President knows very well what he said and how he acted. He is aware of that. He is smart enough and perfidious enough to know very well what this is about. If there is an opportunity, the two of us can discuss that but he knows that very well," said Plenkovic.

He added that there is a "tacit alliance between Skoro, the Bridge party and Milanovic."

"They collaborated in the second round of the presidential election. Milanovic has said that he has established more or less good relations with them. We are aware of that... The entire movement, the entire 'raison d'etre' of that movement was for Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic not to be elected president," Plenkovic claimed.

ZAGREB, Oct 14, 2020  - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday that Monday's Zagreb Square shooting, when a 22-year-old man opened fire at policemen protecting Government House, hinted at radicalization, which should make institutions and the society think about the motives and reasons for that act.

"This is a serious situation that should make institutions and all of us as a society think why this happened," Plenkovic told a news conference at the government in reference to Monday morning's shooting in St Mark's Square when a police officer sustained serious injuries and the 22-year-old gunman later committed suicide.

This is something that crossed the line and brought us into a situation in which we are supposed to change the security frameworks for the work of the government and media coverage in St. Mark's Square, said the premier.

The whole society needs to ask itself what has led to this radicalization and why, and this is an act of radicalization, Plenkovic said.

The behavior of that 22-year-old man was definitely impacted by the information to which he was exposed, and he was also under the influence of somebody, sources which prompted him to try to kill (policemen). We will see who is responsible for that, Plenkovic said.

He underscored that at this moment he could not point an accusing finger at anyone. However, he said, society should ask who incites hatred in the political life of Croatia.

Even after this shooting, "persons like (Vukovar Mayor) Ivan Penava and Mrs. Karolina Vidovic Kristo (a Homeland Movement parliamentarian) are capable of making statements which deserve full condemnation, which are unacceptable, and unbelievable in the political sense, and which do not contribute to the culture of tolerance and normal behavior in a law-based society," Plenkovic said.

He called on media actors that incite hatred to start behaving responsibly, referring to "those that incite hatred between Croatians and the Serb minority in their broadcasts."

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