Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) leader Milorad Pupovac said on Saturday he understood the messages President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic sent him recently in an open letter where she wrote that she is closely following his public statements "in which he is criticising the Republic of Croatia in an entirely inappropriate, unacceptable and malicious manner."

“I don’t intend to reply to this kind of letter. I read it well and memorised it well and understood the messages. I understand what it means when the Armed Forces supreme commander sends you a letter, such messages, to me, a member of the Croatian parliament, a member of a national minority,” Pupovac said.

President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic sent the open letter to Pupovac earlier this week.

Asked if he considered it a threat, Pupovac said the letter was “in the function” of the upcoming presidential election and that Grabar-Kitarovic “won’t score political points by using me.”

He went on to say that right-wing extremists were becoming so strong that one no longer knew what was allowed.

He said that earlier he voiced his fear that the ideology of hate and violence might spread to such an extent that present-day Croatia might start to resemble the Nazi-allied WWII Independent State of Croatia.

Pupovac said the battle in the current presidential race was waged on “who is closer to the criminal past, who will spit more on Serb representatives, who will add another voice to the anti-minority and anti-Serb atmosphere.”

He also commented on the statement by the HVIDRA association of disabled war veterans that the SDSS is an undesirable party in Croatia.

“In democratic societies, one knows who can ban political parties… Croatia needs peace, Croatia needs all people so that it can pull itself together and start working on its future.”

He said that SDSS bodies would decide whether the party will stay in the ruling coalition in the next few days.

“For us, it’s a serious question of democracy… of preserving the pro-European policy,” he said, adding that the decision was not easy as fundamental democratic values were under threat in Croatia.

Pupovac said the ruling policy should be preserved and saved from extreme right-wing policies which were trying to come to power. “What we should all do together… is do our best to act politically so that the ideology of hate and violence does not prevail in this country.”