Public Administration Minister Lovro Kuscevic said on Thursday that relations between the ruling coalition and the Conflict of Interest Commission were "idyllic" and insisted that there was no need for the commission to communicate with his or any other ministry as that body should be independent.

After the commission’s chairwoman, Natasa Novakovic, told the parliament that the public administration ministry had not cooperated with them for a year, Kuscevic told the press that “the Conflict of Interest Commission is an independent body and it would not be good if they cooperated with the Public Administration Ministry or any other ministry.”

“There is no need for communication between us. They are supposed to do their job independently of any other public body,” Kuscevic said.

Considering a Commission meeting scheduled for Friday, when a case pertaining to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic is on the agenda, Kuscevic said that “a decision of the Commission is being awaited” and that his ministry did not want to exert any influence and was therefore not communicating with the Commission.