After Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic had refused on Tuesday President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic's proposal to hold a joint government session on the topic of measures to tackle Croatia's problem of its shrinking population, Speaker of Parliament Gordan Jandrokovic commented on the latest row.

After attending a meeting of the National Security Council on Monday, Grabar-Kitarovic told reporters she would formally ask the Prime Minister to hold a joint cabinet meeting with her to discuss demography policies. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Plenkovic refused the idea, which was followed by Grabar-Kitarovic’s criticism of the government.

“Until now, every time we had a situation like this I wanted to have a calming effect and reduce tensions. There should be no tensions between the president and prime minister… I don’t understand the president’s proposal. We (all) attended a joint session of the National Security Council, and at the same time her request to hold a joint cabinet session was in the mail, before any official announcements. I’m not sure how serious that can be perceived. Demography is a serious issue, that topic requires a serious approach. Just sending a memo without any materials attached, without any explanation what her measures to tackle this issue consist of – that’s just not a serious way to approach this,” Jandrokovic told reporters on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Grabar-Kitarovic said she regretted that Prime Minister Plenkovic had declined her offer, and called for everyone to “set aside their vanities” in addressing the problem of population drain.

“I regret that the Prime Minister (Andrej Plenkovic) has declined to accept my extended hand to cooperate, and has failed to recognise the serious nature of the situation in the country as a result of dramatic proportions of the demographic catastrophe which came upon us. And when one adds 325,000 citizens with blocked bank accounts to this, anyone who cares about the future of Croatia must realise that only through unity and national consensus we can overcome this exceptionally serious crisis. I invite both the government and opposition parties to find the strength and wisdom, to leave aside personal vanities, and reach an agreement on the survival of the Croatian state and nation,” President Grabar-Kitarovic said on Tuesday in a Facebook post.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.