ZAGREB, Sept 25, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Friday repeated his claim that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had known details about the JANAF case investigation, and he also thinks that information on the case is leaking from the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor (DORH).

Milanovic said that the prime minister had to know everything that was important and a burden on the system because otherwise, there was no one running anything, but only anonymous people hiding behind DORH's name.

"Who is DORH, who was in charge of that case? That person has a name and surname," Milanovic told reporters in Pazin, where Istria County Day is being marked.

"One person has the biggest responsibility, and that is the prime minister and he must know. And I believe that he will handle that information responsibly," he said.

He also said that Ranko Ostojic, who was interior minister at the time when Milanovic was prime minister, was not correct when he said that he had not been informing Milanovic about investigations.

"He was informing me, and he was not the only one, on all important things," he said.

Milanovic believes that DORH's autonomy means that "there is no influence on their procedures."

Suspicion that information is leaking from DORH

As for information leaking from the investigation, Milanovic said that there were only two possible sources -- police and DORH, and he suspected that DORH was leaking information to the press.

He reiterated that it was not clear to him why JANAF oil pipeline operator CEO Dragan Kovacevic had not been arrested when he had accepted a bribe and the investigation continued for 10 more months, so there was only circumstantial evidence left now.

Milanovic dismissed claims by ministers in the Plenkovic government that at the time when Milanovic was prime minister, he abolished security checks, saying that that was not true.

"I did not. That's a lie. I refused to let SOA (Security and Intelligence Agency) check my ministers, candidates for ministers, when I had to form a government. (...) I take responsibility for the government," he said.

Asked about his visits to Kovacevic's private club, Milanovic said that he thought he had not been there during the coronavirus crisis lockdown.

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ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic should have known about the investigation against suspected JANAF CEO Dragan Kovacevic as he is the "keeper of state secrets," adding that the premier should not pretend to be naive.

"I sincerely wanted to help him. I am not nervous. I am worried because this is a terribly serious scandal and someone has put him in a serious situation because he obviously was not informed, because if he was there is no way he would have appointed Kovacevic for another term," Milanovic told reporters on the margins of a business conference.

Milanovic's comment, is the latest in the trade of arguments between him and Plenkovic regarding the influence peddling and the public tender rigging probe. Ten suspects have been arrested in the scandal and Janaf CEO Dragan Kovacevic is the main suspect along with businessman Kreso Petek under suspicion of corruption in closing deals with Petek's company.

Earlier Milanovic alleged that Plenkovic along with Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic knew about the investigation against Kovacevic which Plenkovic denied retorting that Milanovic was nervous.

MIlanovis said that he is not nervous but "angry" because things like this should not be happening in a democracy. Milanovic said that Plenkovic has now been put in a "situation by not being in the  know, ignorance or by one of his associates."

Milanovic criticised the work of the DORH state prosecutor's office because the investigation was not suspended when, based on details from the investigation, Petek brought HRK 1.96 million in kickbacks to Kovacevic's private "club."

Milanovic added that he did not see anything contentious in the fact that some ministers visited Kovacevic's "club" however what is contentious is that some judges visited the club too.

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ZAGREB, Sept 23, 2020 - The main objective of Croatia's economic policy should be to increase employment, and Croatia must make the transition from a holiday country to a great country for work, President Zoran Milanovic said on Wednesday while speaking at the Big Plans Day conference organised by the Lider weekly.

"We should strive to increase the share of highly educated people in the workforce because they are a key source of competitive advantage," the president said, adding that the Croatian society and economy needed to open up, because being closed led to being non-competitive and falling behind.

Commenting on the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown in the first half of the year, Milanovic said that new possibilities were opening up now but an agreement had to be reached on what Croatia's new economic identity was.

He also said it was time Croatia focused on investment growth instead of personal consumption, adding that this should not be investment that mostly depends on EU funds, but greenfield investment that creates new jobs.

He warned that we should not be in a situation where the tax system stimulates rental activities and excise duties force production companies out of Croatia "no matter what they are producing, even if we do not like what they are producing."

"My vision of Croatia is a modern, innovative, open, healthy, green and sustainable country. That is the economic identity I will advocate during my term," he said.

Milanovic said that investment should focus on the sustainability of business models, adding that the European Green Deal was the basis for building economic competitiveness.

Diversification, sustainability, production, employment -- these are the goals on which we all must actively cooperate to ensure the growth of prosperity of our people, he said.

Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Tomislav Coric said that 2021 would be a year of recovery, but also a year of correcting economic mistakes. The government thought, he said, that the country's dependence on tourism was its main mistake, so one of the main priorities of this government would be to deal with this issue.

The main task of the government's economic policy next year will be digital transformation and strengthening production capacities and digital transformation, he underscored.

According to Coric, Croatia should make use of its comparative advantages and increase its competitiveness, and a fast economic recovery is possible if everyone works together in synergy -- the government, entrepreneurs, the industry and the financial sector.

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ZAGREB, Aug 25, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday that the commemoration in Grubori for Serb civilian war victims was a debt of honour to what had happened 25 years ago, adding that it had then provoked in him a sense of moral horror.

"It is easy to say now, 25 years later, that no one has personally been called to account for this. It is well-known... which unit was here that day," Milanovic said.

He added that the murder of six innocent elderly residents of Grubori was a moral disaster and that it also caused harm to Croatia.

It tarnished the reputation of a country that had been attacked and that had not been bad until then, he said.

"... Enough of what marked the relations between the two peoples, two nations so alike that it is difficult to find in Europe two that are more similar to each other. These are not the Czech and Slovak peoples, nor Swedes and Norwegians. It is us, Croats and Serbs, our neighbors," Milanovic underscored.

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ZAGREB, Aug 5, 2020 - The President of Croatia and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces, Zoran Milanovic, at a ceremony in Knin on Tuesday evening, presented medals to Croatian Army (HV) generals and Bosnian Croat HVO guards brigades for their contribution to the liberation of Croatia 25 years ago.

"There is time for everything. Twenty-five years after a great victory in the Homeland War, it is time for us to get together and repeat that a small group of good people did a great thing for a large group of people, putting themselves, their lives and safety, in jeopardy," Milanovic said in an address to a reception held on the Knin Fortress on the occasion of Victory Day, Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Croatian Veterans Day and the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm.

He said that the war that was imposed on Croatia was just and inevitable, and that "never, despite certain lapses, did we fall into an abyss of moral catastrophe." He also said that there had been attempts to portray the Croatian war of liberation as a criminal enterprise, but "luckily they failed".

Milanovic said he was honoured to decorate the Bosnian Croat units. "It is our debt of honour," he said.

"Today, 25 years on, we are here. We are looking back, but most of all we are looking forward, aware of all the challenges, traps, and unknowns. What I can say with a deep conviction is that the wars are over and that Croatia won them. Long live Croatia!" the President said.

Gotovina: It's never too late to do good

Retired General Ante Gotovina said that a lot of time had passed since the war, "but it is never too late to do good, to do right."

"Dear friends, with your courage and your selfless dedication to the country at that fateful time for our people, through the unity of us all, we built a Croatian army capable of defending itself, ending an imposed war and creating conditions for lasting peace," Gotovina said.

ZAGREB, Aug 4, 2020 -  Addressing the First Croatian Policeman unit on Tuesday, President Zoran Milanovic warned of the "stupid fabrication" to present the Croatian defence war as a joint criminal enterprise.

Milanovic decorated members of the First Croatian Policeman unit with the Order of Nikola Subic Zrinski on the 30th anniversary of the assembly of 1,800 personnel who then began training to liberate the country from Serb occupation.

"We won the war. The war is over and after the war, there were attempts to present all that before the tribunal in The Hague as a joint criminal enterprise, but that attempt failed," Milanovic said.

Joint criminal enterprise is one of those stupid and ugly lies

"We were lucky that not one of our generals, and they were acting under orders from the state leadership, was tainted and convicted for that 'joint criminal enterprise', which is one of those stupid and ugly lies they tried to pin on Croatia's back," he underscored.

"I don't know who is to blame for that but I am glad that that poor attempt failed. It is up to us to be benevolent in peace and to show good faith," he added.

He greeted the families of those who fell as casualties or went missing and who paid the highest price.

Regret that the First Croatian Policeman was not given the status of a war unit earlier

"I am pleased to be able to decorate you and the brigades from Bosnia and Herzegovina that liberated Croatia. That is our and my debt of honour to you and to them," the President said, adding that he regretted that the First Croatian Policeman had not been accorded the status of a war unit earlier.

The celebration was held in the same place where 30 years ago about 1,800 Croatian police officers began training so that they could be put to the service of defending the homeland, it was said at the celebration.

This government has corrected an injustice

Veterans' Affairs Minister Tomo Medved expressed his congratulations on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the First Croatian Policeman unit underlining that with this the government has corrected an injustice by deciding that the the First Croatian Policeman was the first armed unit of the Interior Ministry.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the military-police operation Storm, he thanked the troops for all they had done during their service in the Homeland War.

"Let's be proud of everything we achieved together and ready for challenges that each new day brings. With optimism and faith, we are continuing towards a better future," said Medved.

ZAGREB, Aug 4, 2020 - It would be good not to embarrass ourselves as a country, President Zoran Milanovic said on Tuesday referring to announcements by some individuals that they would attend the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the military and police operation Storm in Knin wearing T-shirts with the emblem "For the Homeland Ready".

"That isn't the same. In Okucani, it was a matter of protocol. They appeared before the prime minister and me. This is a different situation. It would be good not to embarrass ourselves as a country, but if they wish to shout, let them but they should not wear those T-shirts, that just causes us harm," Milanovic said after attending the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the first Croatian police unit at the Croatian Police Academy in Zagreb.

Asked whether he would react as he did in Okucane when he left the commemoration because of the "For the Homeland Ready" HOS emblem if the same emblem was included in the protocol of the Knin commemoration, Milanovic said he would because he acted in line with his principles which the people had recognised.

I will not allow Croatia to be ridiculed, PM will make sure everything goes well

"I will certainly not allow the Croatian state and symbols to be ridiculed. I am certain that the prime minister will make an effort for that to be clean," said Milanovic.

With reference to Deputy Prime Minister Boris Milosevic of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) attending the Storm celebration, Milanovic said that that was good but that he had not expected it.

"There will be a celebration in Knin tomorrow and not a commemoration. I do not expect everyone in Croatia to celebrate everything in the same way. That is why I am glad, if this is sincere, and I believe it is, for Milosevic to come," stressed Milanovic.

At not one moment, with possible faults during the war and in its aftermath, did Croatia fall into a moral disaster, he added, saying that there were mistakes and faults which had been paid for both in courts and materially.

"A stain remains but the victory is big, clean and unquestionable. If some are unhappy about it, let it be. That is why I am glad that Boris Milosevic is coming, he was an official in my government, too," Milanovic underlined.

No harsh words between prime minister and myself

Asked whether he had been in contact with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic since last week following mutual criticism, Milanovic said that there were no harsh words there.

"The only thing he said was that I was bored, but that wasn't directed at me personally but to the position I hold. I didn't take that personally," he added.

As far as the powers of the National Civil Protection Authority are concerned, which he considers to be unconstitutional, Milanovic said that he had not launched proceedings to test its constitutionality because thirty other people had already done so and that it would not be any more relevant if he did so too.

"The president does not have any special status or special active legitimacy before the Constitutional Court and that is not the job of the president. It is up to me to say, and I have done so clearly from the very beginning - it is unconstitutional," he said. He reiterated that there is a way to regulate the matter, with the Sabor granting certain powers to the authority for a limited period.

EU funds: The prime minister has to take and use that money without delay

With regard to EU funding allocated to Croatia, Milanovic said that this was an enormous amount and that it was up to the prime minister to make sure that money was taken and used without any delay.

ZAGREB, Aug 1, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic has interceded with the United States to remove retired Croatian army general Ljubo Cesic Rojs from its blacklist, Vecernji List daily said on Saturday.

Cesic Rojs brought his case to the President's attention during a recent meeting with 11 retired army generals. His case dates from the time of investigations by the Hague war crimes tribunal when his name was included on a blacklist of the US State Department, which implied a freeze on all of the general's assets and bank accounts and a ban from travelling to the United States, Canada, and Australia, the newspaper wrote.

His case falls within the authority of the Office for Foreign Assets Control, a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the US Treasury Department. Cesic Rojs was included on the blacklist together with generals Ante Gotovina and Rahim Ademi, who were removed from the list after the Hague tribunal acquitted them of war crimes charges. Cesic Rojs, however, has remained on the list and has been knocking on the doors of many Croatian and US institutions, but to no avail, Vecernji List said.

Cesic Rojs was truly surprised when he was recently notified by the US Embassy in Zagreb that his case was finally being dealt with after, as a source at the President's Office has also confirmed, President Milanovic personally interceded on his behalf.

ZAGREB, July 29, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has never tweeted something against President Zoran Milanovic, the government said on Wednesday, adding that after checking Plenkovic's twitter account they concluded that Milanovic was either lying or hallucinating.

"Given the numerous media queries about which late-night tweet the president meant, we checked the prime minister's tweets in the past period to check if anything was tweeted late at night that was aimed against the president. The only thing we can conclude is that the president is either lying or hallucinating," the government said.

He is certainly very bored so he is making things up, it added.

Milanovic today dismissed Plenkovic's claims that he was bored, saying this was said on Plenkovic's Twitter account.

Milanovic said he did not think that Plenkovic wrote that himself but someone in his office late at night. "I can't believe that Plenkovic would write such nonsense," he said, without specifying which tweet he meant.

Plenkovic told reporters today it seemed to him the president "is a little bored." He was commenting on Milanovic's repeated claims that the national COVID response team was unconstitutional, that parliament was above it and that the "team is actually nothing."

ZAGREB, July 26, 2020 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Sunday he would like to see Boris Milosevic, the deputy prime minister from the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), and its president Milorad Pupovac at the 25th anniversary of Operation Storm in Knin, which he said should be joy and not gloating over someone's defeat.

"It would be good, I'd like to see him there," the president said on N1 television when asked if it would be good for Milosevic to attend the military operation anniversary on August 5.

"I think that would be a gesture... Whether he will be capable of it, whether the colleagues from the SDSS have the stomach for it... They have a problem with it. In smaller portions of the Serb people that is seen as a disaster, as persecution and as genocide, yet the story is a little complicated and I think Croatia can be proud of how that was planned, how it was done. After that there were mistakes which we are aware of and for which a price was paid," the president said.

If he is booed at the anniversary as he was when he was prime minister, Milanovic said he did not know how he would react. He said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had started doing something about that and that one could no longer see in his vicinity "merry guys who come to provoke and act out."

Knin shouldn't be given the mythical significance

The president said that Knin, which became a local centre of the Serb rebellion in the 1990s by a combination of coincidences, should not be given mythical significance. "It's a small town with Zvonimir's Fortress and there is symbolism in that, but it's not a mythical place in the modern Croatian history," he said, adding that Operation Storm should be celebrated in Zagreb.

Milanovic welcomed the fact that Milosevic was part of the new government, but said it would be better if members of ethnic minorities who were in the government had some executive powers.

Asked why he did not attend the inauguration of the new parliament, he said one could likewise ask why he did not attend the new cabinet's first session given that it was a body he would cooperate with much more than with parliament.

"We don't have a tradition, we are creating it. In these changes, I won't be anyone's epigone."

EU money can't be used to solve budget problems

The president also spoke of the €22 billion the EU has earmarked for Croatia to recover from the COVID-19 crisis and financing over the next seven years. He said this money could not be used to solve budget problems when it was certain that the deficit would be huge.

"We are getting the money for development, for projects, and that should then generate new value, returning the money into the budget through taxes. The next year and a half will be very difficult because we will lack money. It needs to be taken somewhere," he said, adding that next year there would be no money to buy new fighter jets.

Speaking of the situation in the country caused by the coronavirus epidemic, the president reiterated that it had become a state of emergency but had not been aligned with the constitution.

"If that were done, I don't see the president playing a part, but the government and parliament. I can't say more or I'll become violent."

He reiterated that the national COVID-19 response team was not legally established and that it needed authority for the decisions it was making, and that parliament should play a key part in that.

"I warned the prime minister that people will sue the state because the decisions aren't legally founded. That team is a para-body. The Constitutional Court will have to decide on that."

If you don't go to the dentist, caries can spread to the heart

The president also spoke of his comparison of COVID-19 with caries. "The disease is dangerous, it's no joke, but I didn't compare it with caries without reason. Caries seems harmless, but if you don't take care of teeth hygiene every day, if you get caries and don't go to the dentist, it can spread to the heart. But generally, everything will be fine."

The coronavirus infection should be treated responsibly, daily, with concentration, by protecting seniors as nearly all who have died have been seniors, the president added.