Bridge president Bozo Petrov said on Monday the expiry of a moratorium on enforcement procedures could unleash an "enforcement stampede" and that the government did not pass a new enforcement law nor amended the existing one, only adopting recommendations which did not oblige anyone.

Creditors know it will be more difficult to collect their claims because of the economic downturn and debtors’ lower incomes, so a race in who will be faster to collect might begin, Petrov told the press.

The government should not have allowed that, he said, adding that he expected urgent concrete measures from it.

He said the government could have extended the moratorium or amended the law to define stages in the enforcement procedure which would oblige creditors, the Financial Agency and public notaries.

Bridge proposed cutting enforcement costs and warned about proportionality, but the government allowed the moratorium to expire without doing anything, Petrov said.

Citizens facing enforcement can’t wait for months for a new enforcement law, so we call on the government to protect them, he said. “People cannot make ends meet, and resolving their problems improves the nation’s psychological health if they know they can trust the government.”

Radicalisation in society is a consequence of a loss of values

As for radicalisation in society and last week’s shooting attack on Government House, Petrov said the prime minister seemed a little scared and that he should stop with “that performance.”

“When you assume certain duties and responsibilities, situations of that nature can occur, but even then people wish to see security in you and that you are focusing on problem solving, instead of looking for excuses.”

He said the attack was extremely tragic as one young person lost his life and another’s was being saved, adding that this was a consequence of the loss of values such as humanity, responsibility, seriousness, fairness, honesty, and care for others.

There is no justification for the crime, but there has been no apology for everything that hasn’t been done in the last 30 years yet should have been. We haven’t sufficiently publicly condemned everything bad that has occurred yet hasn’t been punished, said Petrov.

Human Shield joins in criticism of debt collection legislation

The Human Shield part said on Monday that the current legislation on enforced collection of debts is “criminal”.

This non-parliamentary party insists that the draft law which it proposes should be adopted, and recalls that under its proposal there will be no fees for the Finance Agency (Fina), no fees for public notaries or lawyers, and that the only property where the enforcement debtors live will not be subject to distraint.

The party leader Ivan Vilibor Sincic said today that the Slovene model should be followed in this case.