ZAGREB, 15 March 2022 - MPs of the opposition Bridge party said on Tuesday that the Public Administration Ministry had determined that the party had collected a sufficient number of signatures for its two referendum initiatives, noting that the purpose of the two referendums was to build a shield for democracy and human rights.

MP Nikola Grmoja said that the referendum initiative aimed at amending Article 17 of the Constitution to include epidemic and pandemic as events during which constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms can be restricted only by a two-thirds parliamentary majority, had collected 370,310 valid signatures.

The other initiative, advocating a referendum against the national COVID-19 crisis management team, has collected 372,635 valid signatures, as determined by the Public Administration Ministry.

Grmoja believes that despite the war in Ukraine, that topic had not lost its relevance as it could become important again in autumn.

He noted that the current growth of prices in Croatia and the rest of the world was not due only to the Russian aggression against Ukraine because food and energy prices had been going up before it.

MP Nino Raspudić said that the issues raised by the two referendum initiatives were definitely not passe, claiming the government was keeping citizens in a state of permanent emergency in order to cover up its criminal activities.

"Croatia is being held captive by completely incompetent and immoral people implicated in criminal activity. This is the only way to say 'enough' through institutions. Croatian citizens have said so," Raspudić said, adding that the referendum question seeking to amend article 17 of the Constitution was aimed at building "a strong, lasting missile shield for democracy and human rights in Croatia" because "the same story could continue after the summer."

Asked for a comment on the varying expert assessments regarding the crash of a military drone in Zagreb last Thursday, Grmoja said that "Defence Minister Mario Banožić can no longer continue to be minister after this."

"Not only because of the fact that the incident happened, with our air defence system failing to react, but because of the very communication following this unprecedented incident," he said.

ZAGREB, 2 July 2021 - The HSLS party on Friday condemned a statement by Bridge MP Nikola Grmoja who expressed disgruntlement over the promotion of sexual minority rights and linked the LGBT community to paedophilia.

"Tolerance and intolerance are two opposites that best symbolise two Europes today, a democratic one with liberal principles of freedom, equality and tolerance as part of their state policies, and an undemocratic one led by Orban's policies of intolerance and discrimination," HSLS leader Dario Hrebak said in a press release.

He said that in that kind of Europe there are two mutually opposite Croatias, one that belongs to the EU with its values and the other which is represented by "Orban's poltroons," which is the group that "Grmoja obviously belongs to," who are bothered by democracy and the values it consists of.

HSLS, which is part of the ruling coalition considers that the purpose of political institutions is peaceful conflict resolution between individuals, protecting individuals from any form of oppression and finding solutions to political problems that would be in accordance with the wishes and interests of individuals.

Democracy is not only its institutions but values it is founded on, and the relationship towards minorities in fact shows how a society puts its democratic values into practice, said Hrebak.

We must never stop fighting against backward ideas because by condemning them and clearly distancing ourselves from them, we are protecting democracy and its institutions, he added.

Grmoja on Wednesday announced that he would put forward and anti-phaedophile bill that would also ban "LGBT propaganda" being spread to minors.

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ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - After a meeting of left and right opposition parties regarding the launching of an inquiry commission into the work of the DORH state prosecutor's office on Wednesday, MP Nikola Grmoja (Bridge) said that the opposition would work together for a parliamentary inquiry commission to be established. 

Each opposition caucus will propose one MP and someone from the relevant expert services to prepare that framework, Grmoja, who initiated the idea, told reporters, adding that the commission would investigate the influence of politics and the executive government on the work of independent institutions.

"Our aim is find out what influence the executive government, primarily the prime minister and ministers, have on DORH and the police. The investigation we plan to conduct through the parliamentary inquiry commission will not exclude other stakeholders either, we do not intend to spare anyone," said Grmoja.

The entire Opposition has agreed and there are also those statement by President (Zoran Milanovic) who claims that he knew everything about investigations while he was prime minister, and that needs to be investigated too, the Bridge party's official said.

Social Democratic Party (SDP) whip Arsen Bauk said that his party will in principle support the idea to determine how information is being leaked from independent institutions.

He could not go into any more detail, saying that more will be said when the material is prepared to be submitted to the Sabor.

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