PM Plenković 'not telling the truth', says Markić

"The Prime Minister, as all Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) MEPs, voted against using article 13 to encourage EU member states to ratify the Istanbul Convention. Only a year later, as soon as he became Prime Minister, he said he would ratify it, and I don't know what had happened in the meantime - I will leave it up to him to offer an explanation," Markić told reporters.

The Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women is a document drafted by the Council of Europe in 2011 and by November 2017 has been signed by 44 countries, although a number of them have not ratified it yet. Croatia had signed it in 2013 by the centre-left Social Democrat government, but never proceeded to ratify it in parliament.

"Official records show that prime minister (Plenković) had first voted Yes, but then went to great lengths to put in a note saying he intended to vote No. He used his prerogative to change his intentions after the fact. Plenković, like his colleagues, intended to be - and indeed was - against article 13 which calls states to sign and ratify the Istanbul Convention," Markić said.

Several prominent HDZ party members had publicly disagreed with the ratification in recent weeks, as well as some leaders of the Catholic Church, mainly over concerns that the convention introduces "gender ideology", which they do not recognise, the costs associated with funding its provisions, and the fact that an independent body of experts would be in charge of reviewing relevant laws in national legislations, reducing each nation's sovereignty.

In spite of opposition from his own ranks, prime minister and leader of HDZ decided to go forward with the ratification, albeit with an added interpretation statement aimed at dissuading critics from conservative and right-wing groups. A protest against the ratification on Saturday attracted thousands of Croatians who marched through Zagreb city centre carrying banners against the perceived "gender ideology". A new protest has been announced for April 12 in Croatia's second city of Split.

"We have heard MEP (Ivana) Maletić say that Istanbul Convention was not part of HDZ's election programme, precisely because of gender ideology. This shows that the prime minister is not telling the truth. And if he isn't telling the truth on that, one wonders what else he isn't telling the truth about," she said.

Markić then mentioned a recent New York Times article to illustrate the dangers ratifying the Istanbul Convention might bring.

"As an Easter present, we will send the prime minister last Sunday's edition of the New York Times, containing an article about what children in Sweden learn in pre-school education, so that he sees what gender-neutral kindergartens and children cross-dressing look like, and then we might hear the prime minister acknowledge that such practices do exist. Then we as a society need to have a discussion if we want them in Croatia or not," Markić said.

"The way this is communicated to the public is disgraceful. To claim that an interpretative statement would somehow waive obligations put to Croatia simply isn't true," Markić said, referring to a Council of Europe aide-memoire document released earlier this month containing legal analysis on obligations arising for states ratifying the Istanbul Convention.