ZAGREB, June 22, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said in his congratulatory note on Monday on the occasion of the national Antifascist Struggle Day that present-day Croatia would not have existed without the WWII anti-fascist resistance movement in the country.

Croatia marks Antifascist Struggle Day on June 22 in memory of 22 June 1941 when the first antifascist unit was formed in the Brezovica forest near Sisak in the then occupied Europe.

The Croatian president writes in his message posted on his Facebook account that "Antifascist Struggle Day revives memories of "the unique uprising in 1941, the uprising of our people, who were ready to say 'no', before all others in the then Europe occupied and destroyed by Fascists and Nazis."

He underscored that the participants in the first unit, set up in Brezovica Forest, enabled their followers in the months and years to come, to grow into the Croatian people's antifascist army.

"It was an army that fought for freedom, an army that ended the war on the right side, that is on the victorious side, which was important for the survival of the Croatian state," Milanovic writes.

"The good defeated the evil then, we chose a difficult path, but, let me repeat, we chose the right side as we did many times before and after that," the president said in his message.

This is our Croatian history about which our children should know. We can discuss that, but we cannot negate or deny that he added.

Present-day Croatia is a democracy and the country of the Croatian nation that respects all its citizens regardless of which minority they belong to, this is a state defended during the Homeland War, he added.

ZAGREB, June 19, 2020 - The state should equip the Croatian Air Force with something new and state of the art because what we have now has given its best, President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Zoran Milanovic said on Friday in the Zemunik airbase.

Attending a ceremony presenting pilot flight badges to cadets in the 24th generation of Air Force pilots, President Milanovic said that each commander is as great as much as he cares for his people and "doesn't treat them as cannon fodder."

"If we raise that to the level of the state, our state should, I believe it will, invest funds and simply supply the Air Force with something more modern and new because what we have at the moment has given its best, it completed a sort of historic mission more than 20 years ago," he said.

A state and people who safeguard their values aren't afraid of costs

We know how procurement went and now it's time for new times. "And that costs but a state and people who know what they have and know how to safeguard their values will not be afraid of those costs and will take them, he added.

Asked about the procurement of new fighter jets, Milanovic said that that is the consensus in Croatian political life but when asked at what stage it was, he said, "at the beginning."

I supported lifting rigorous epidemiological measures

Commenting on the increase in the number of people infected with the novel coronavirus on Thursday, Milanovic said that he "supported lifting and abolishing those rigorous measures."

"We can never go back to that sort of lockdown. That was a reaction to something new, threatening. We will have to protect the elderly and ill," he said.

Reporters asked Milanovic about the investigations into two aircraft accidents at the Zemunik airbase.

"If the investigation is going to be proper, it will be independent. Particularly these investigations in which no one is inclined to cover up anything, or steer the investigation in a certain direction and to desired conclusions. Investigations take time and they are especially rigorous for air accidents," he concluded.

ZAGREB, June 19, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Friday that conflicts between football fans' groups in Vukovar showed that the situation in that eastern town "is not normal" as local youth was constantly being poisoned, and he called for punishing the perpetrators.

"The perpetrators should be punished and that, I'm sure, is what will happen in this case, which is just an indicator of the situation in the town, which is not normal," Milanovic said in a comment on an incident in Vukovar's neighbourhood of Borovo Naselje, when six people were injured in clashes between supporters of the Dinamo Zagreb football club and those of Partizan Belgrade.

Milanovic does not believe such conflicts are accidental but he does not see how they are linked with the election campaign, noting that they happen all the time.

He said that he was not familiar with the details of the incident but that he did know that back in 2008 there had been an agreement between the then city authorities and representatives of the Serb minority on the official use of the minority's Cyrillic script, after which "the situation has simply regressed to the situation of years ago."

"A series of events in the political life of Vukovar and Croatia have resulted in a radical change of government at all levels, and, unfortunately, a group of people could not imagine their coming back to power without restoring the situation to how it was in 1991," he said.

He said that new generations of young people, notably men, who had been exposed to strong indoctrination on both sides, were now growing up.

"We know what happened in 1991 but 11-12 years ago, when I was just entering the world of politics, the situation in Vukovar looked much better than it is today. I think that one can identify by name the group of people who are responsible for this situation, and the majority is always at least equally responsible as the minority. The majority are we, Croats," he said.

The president would neither support nor criticise comments by politicians regarding the issue of abortion, saying that he was saving his neutrality for the duration of electioneering.

Nevertheless, he noted that his position on the matter is already known and that the right to choose is not only a technical right but also a complex matter.

"The woman is the one to decide. I also respect the more conservative views but I do not agree with them and believe that a line should be drawn somewhere."

As for his predecessor Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic showing her middle finger as a sign of protest at some positions on the right to abortion of raped women, Milanovic said that such a style was always a method of fight and should be viewed in a certain context.

"The middle finger does not mean anything to me, it can be funny, it can be vulgar. It depends on the context," he said.

ZAGREB, June 16, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Tuesday received a delegation of the Voice of Entrepreneurs association who informed him of its activities and objectives, the president's office said in a press release.

During the meeting, the association's representatives said that they established the association as a response to the government's measures during the coronavirus pandemic and that now they are continuing to act as the voice of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, trades and their employees, the press release said.

The delegation said that the association's motto is more work and justice, lower taxes, and absolute transparency and that they wished to be the driver of change aimed at creating a better and wealthier society in Croatia.

The delegation was headed by Voice of Entrepreneurs president Hrvoje Bujas, its executive director Drazen Orescanin, coordinator Marusa Stamac, and economic analyst Vuk Vukovic, the press release said.

ZAGREB, June 13, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Saturday that a banner displayed in Zagreb which insulted and incited to ethnic violence against Serb women and children constituted hate speech and not a misdemeanour against public order and that such things should be criminalised.

"As for the model of punishment, such things should be regulated much better legally. This thing yesterday wasn't a misdemeanour against public order and peace, that was hate speech. And as long as the police treat that as a misdemeanour, such things will happen," Milanovic told reporters.

He added that neither the police nor the courts were to blame as they had no other legislation.

"The law is what it is. In my opinion, such things should be criminalised. This is no misdemeanour. Which doesn't mean that every criminal offense should result in imprisonment, but it's a criminal offense because its level of danger, violence and the damage it can cause is such that it deserves bigger and more precise attention by the legislator."

The president said the law should more clearly define fascist and Nazi salutes and clearly describe such hate speech as well as punish it because that would make the job of the police and the courts easier.

He said it was good that the state responded in this case because it was best if the state-protected all citizens by a clear, transparent, and recognisable protection system, including law enforcement.

As for what the banner displayed by some football fans said, the president said they would probably realise very soon that not even one percent of Croats supported what they wrote.

Election debates are good

Speaking of debates ahead of elections, Milanovic said those between representatives of the strongest political parties were a good thing. "It's good that they are held, that one can hear and see who are the people competing for the most responsible and most difficult job in the state, that of prime minister."

He said electoral rolls would show if he voted in the July 5 parliamentary election, adding that they should be public since making them so would not undermine the secrecy of the vote.

He once again called on as many citizens as possible to vote. "That's your right, it's not an obligation. It's not a duty and not voting is not punishable, and I won't tell you that you should vote so that later you don't complain about who is governing you... Just vote. I think that's better for the state."

Speaking of the ongoing campaign, the president said it brought nothing new but that he did not like it when "you're lying" was being said too much. "In this campaign, I may have heard it more than before," he said, adding that it was deplorable.

Milanovic said he was not for reducing the number of ministries as that changed nothing "if the positions and the people who go with those positions in terms of duties and scope of activity stay the same."

INA privatisation study unnecessary

Commenting on an investigation into former health minister Sinisa Varga (SDP) for allegedly commissioning unnecessary studies worth HRK 200,000, Milanovic said it was "a commendable effort." 

He went on to say that a study on the privatisation of the INA oil company "is unnecessary. Will anybody be criminally accountable for that? And for talks and negotiations during an election campaign when the government can't make any moves which have financial repercussions?"

He said that after parliament was dissolved and an election was called, nothing should be done that could have financial consequences. "Nothing, aside from paying people's wages and incentives if they are envisaged."

ZAGREB, June 2, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday that Josipa Rimac, a former state secretary arrested in the wind park scandal, had once said that he was not a Croat, adding that he cannot believe that someone who is a state secretary can behave like an "agent for an American investment company."

Asked if he was surprised by the wind park scandal and its extent, Milanovic said that while he was prime minister, Rimac, a former Knin mayor, had said that he was not a Croat and that he did not love his people.

"Then we paid a couple of million kunas for a monument at the Knin railway station. My government did not commission it. We financed it with a feeling of joy and patriotism. Then she brought those troublemakers to Knin and now she is in investigative custody. It is unbelievable that the state secretary in the Public Administration Ministry has the nerve to behave like an agent for an American investment company," he said.

Responding to a reporter's remark that Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Coric shifted the responsibility for the wind park scandal onto his government because all agreements regarding renewable energy sources were signed during his term in office, Milanovic said that Coric was not telling the truth.

Milanovic said that at the end of his term, the then relevant minister, Ivan Vrdoljak, adopted "some sort of decision," after which the government led by Tihomir Oreskovic was in power for a brief time and then came the current government which, Milanovic said, has had four and a half years to "nip that in the bud."

"If a minister had some authority in my government and could make some decisions on his own, I do not know about that," he claimed and explained that at one stage wind parks were interesting for investors because enterprises were stimulated to invest in that form of energy production.

With regard to the March for Life is held on the day of election silence, Milanovic said that was an initiative that advocated the fight against abortion and is led by a woman who previously worked for Human Rights Watch, adding that he has a problem with the concept of election silence in any case.

"That doesn't mean anything. I think that lady is not a candidate on any election slate. It's all the same to me, the people will decide. That might bother some people and they will go to the polls and vote for someone else or maybe they didn't plan to vote at all," he said.

ZAGREB, June 1, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Monday received a delegation of the Croatian creative and cultural industries cluster who pointed out the importance and need to support that sector.

The delegation underscored that Croatia has great potential in that sector because through these activities it can secure a high added value for other economic branches, particularly tourism, the President's Office said in a press release.

The delegation pointed out that it was of special importance for a strategy for the sector to be prepared as well as the needs for institutional and infrastructure support to develop the creative and cultural industry.

ZAGREB, May 30, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Saturday that he was sorry the President was calling Statehood Day an election rally of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), underscoring that it was bad he spoke in such a way about positive legislation passed by the parliament.

"I think it is bad that the President of the Republic speaks in such a way about positive legal regulations passed by the parliament," Plenkovic told reporters commenting on a statement by President Zoran Milanovic that May 30 was not Statehood Day and that it was a result of one political party's (HDZ) private affairs.

"We know very well that (former SDP leader Ivica) Racan's government in 2001 decided that Statehood Day should be marked on June 25, which is also an important day. This (May 30) was the beginning and that's why I regret that he speaks in such a way about a key date for modern Croatia," he added.

He expressed confidence that Milanovic would change his opinion during his term of office.

The prime minister said that he did not hear Milanovic's accusations that the Statehood Day commemoration was an HDZ election rally or HDZ official Vladimir Seks's statement that conditions had been created to remove the president from office.

"Today is a key date for Croatia and I am proud... that we again mark Statehood Day on this date," he underscored.

Plenkovic also did not want to comment on the fact that Milanovic had not come to lay a wreath at the grave of Croatia's first president Franjo Tudjman, saying that he personally should be asked about this.

"I am the head of the government, of the HDZ, the person on whose initiative the date of Statehood Day has changed. He is a different institution, ask him about his behavior. I have said enough about the matter and that is not the subject of my interest," Plenkovic underscored.

He also said that yesterday's arrests in a case involving the Croatian Forests company, especially that of HDZ official Josipa Rimac, were not difficult for the HDZ and added that the rule of law must apply at all moments.

"The DORH (State Attorney's Office), the police are independent. If someone has committed a crime or there is reasonable suspicion that they have committed it, the police, the DORH, and everyone else must do their job regardless of the time, the person concerned or their party affiliation," he underscored.

Plenkovic also said that this example of the independence of state institutions was further proof that they were fighting against corruption.

He called the prompt dismissal of Public Administration Ministry state secretary Josipa Rimac and Assistant Economy Minister Ana Mandac a clear message, adding that relevant party bodies would decide whether to launch intraparty proceedings against them.

Asked if it had been a bad decision to appoint Rimac state secretary at the Public Administration Ministry after an earlier affair involving her house, Plenkovic said that what was happening now had nothing to do with the Public Administration Ministry.

He reiterated that May 30 was the day when the first democratically elected multi-party Croatian parliament was constituted. "This is a key date in the 1990-1992 period when important decisions were made for our independence and freedom. I am especially glad that the current parliament has changed Statehood Day's date back to May 30 at the government's proposal," the PM underscored.

ZAGREB, May 30, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Saturday, after a wreath-laying ceremony at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery on the occasion of Statehood Day, that he was not boycotting the commemoration of that day, but that it was an election rally and a promise by a political administration that was now being fulfilled.

"This is an election rally. I am not boycotting anything. This is a promise by a political administration that is now fulfilling it. I consider that legislative decision a boycott of common sense and of the will of the majority of people in this country," the president said.

He added that on 30 May 1990 a multi-party parliament was elected in democratic elections in which the absolute majority was held by a political party that had been supported by a relative minority of Croatian voters.

"That cannot be everyone's holiday. There were other parties as well. To single it out as a holiday of Croatian statehood is very pretentious. To start with, you should find something that does not bother anyone. And by that I mean a vast majority," Milanovic said, adding that Victory Day (August 5) was much more important than May 30 as well as that in the independence referendum of May 19, 1991, practically all Croatians had voted.

Asked why he was then commemorating May 30, he said that he was doing it out of respect for the dead.

"That is the minimum of conciliatoriness and respect I will always show because after all, this decision was adopted by the parliament, however, as we know, the parliament can pass any decision with a majority based on defectors. That is what I said half a year ago, that is my position and I am now showing it this way," he said.

Milanovic did not join today PM Andrej Plenkovic and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic in laying a wreath at the grave of first Croatian President Franjo Tudjman at Mirogoj.

He also confirmed that he would not attend any of the commemorative events to be held later in the day.

Milanovic on impeachment: Go ahead and do it

Asked about senior HDZ official Vladimir Seks' statement that a procedure should be launched to remove Milanovic from office over his position on Statehood Day, Milanovic said "He should go ahead and do it."

"Nobody has ever voted for Mr Seks, code name "Sova" (Owl). He has been one of the very negative figures in Croatia in the last 30 years, leaving behind a negative institutional trace that is difficult to remove. Let him do it. Who knows, maybe someone will launch an investigation into responsibility for war crimes committed in Osijek," said Milanovic.

He also said that the current parliament had made the decision on Statehood Day solely for the purpose of elections.

"You do it because you can. You have bought defectors' votes. Someone else will come and I hope they will be sensible enough not to insist on imposing their own will and choosing something that bothers half the Croatian people. That's not the way to do it," said Milanovic.

Asked about Friday's arrests, including those of state-owned Hrvatske Sume forest management company CEO Krunoslav Jakupcic and Public Administration State Secretary Josipa Rimac, and if he believed they, too, were part of the election campaign, Milanovic said that many people were arrested.

"They are all actually members of the ruling party. This is now assuming the proportions of an epidemic. What I have seen is not entirely clear to me because it seems an investigation was compromised. I would like to believe that the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH) has arguments (to support the case) because if it does not, it will be ridiculed," he said.

Milanovic recalled that during his term as Prime Minister, one government member had been dismissed but that there had been no such cases as the current ones, and that DORH officials had not been appointed on the last day of the parliament's term but well into it.

"I want that difference to be noted," he said.

ZAGREB, May 28, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic called on citizens on Thursday to vote in the July 5 parliamentary election, saying he was not thinking about the election interests and chances of the ruling HDZ or the opposition SDP and that he did not wish to influence that.

"I call on everyone to go to the polls, and it's unbelievable how a well-meaning and defensive statement by me has prompted several analysts to react. My message is 'vote', and I'll see, because I don't want any bias to be ascribed to my activity," Milanovic told reporters, explaining an earlier statement that he did not know if he would vote at all.

He said this was not his message but his stance. "I'm not thinking about the SDP's interests and chances in the election, nor the HDZ's, nor would I influence that."

He said the right to vote was a constitutional right, not a duty, and called on citizens to go to the polls to vote, not to invalidate their ballot.

Asked about the business of the INA oil company and recent media claims that oil was being shipped to Hungary for refining, Milanovic said he did not know enough about that.

"In order to have a stand, I need to know a little more. Business reasons have to exist for it to be refined in Rijeka. What those reasons are, I don't know. I don't know the motives of INA's owner, the majority owner being, unfortunately, the Hungarian company MOL. Unfortunately, that was wrong, damaging for Croatia."

The president added that the Rijeka Refinery has to operate.

Last night he met with the military leadership in his office to discuss the situation in the army. Although he did not reveal details of the talks, he said new military aircraft would likely be procured.

"We will probably procure them, I can say with certainty. When the situation calms down a bit. But I will do my best so that it isn't done as it was three years ago, for responsibility to be taken more clearly at one point. That is up to the prime minister. Frankly, there's not much choice here. The US or someone from the West without an indecent proposal."

Asked if Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic were sending him a message by not attending a Croatian army reception in his office, Milanovic said they were sending the message to their voters, not to him.

As for the new date on which Statehood Day is being marked, May 30, he said that date is not really Statehood Day.

"It's a holiday that is being moved by political turbulence so that people won't really know what holiday it is in fact. June 25 is a symbolically important date, it's not a parade. It's the date of the Croatian referendum on independence and leaving Yugoslavia. That date is the common denominator of all Croats. This new date isn't the common denominator. Too many people have dilemmas about it."