Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic called on Thursday for defusing tensions in society.

Speaking to the press, he said the situation in society was demanding and complex.

I don’t recall that we had such a difficult situation. We see an increase in the number of those infected with coronavirus, in the number of the dead, and the absolute priority is that we try to reduce those numbers together, Jandrokovic said.

“Let’s be responsible, solidary, sensible, let’s take into account each other, our medical staff who are fighting tough battles.”

He said it was not the same to argue before Covid and the crisis it brought and now when “any word can ignite the flame.”

“The end result of hate speech, of unacceptable messages, was the shot in St. Mark’s Square,” Jandrokovic said talking about a recent attack on the government building.

“The path from verbal to physical violence is not that long, this situation has shown us that. This boy (the gunman) didn’t come here of his own accord, he was verbally prepared for doing that. Let’s not add fuel to the flames, let’s calm down, let’s deal with how to help citizens.”

Jandrokovic dismissed claims that only the right was to blame for the radicalisation of society, and called for questioning how much a previous Social Democratic Party-led government was responsible for increasing radicalisation with the adoption of Lex Perkovic.

It takes two to quarrel, they are not innocents who haven’t added fuel to the flames, he said, recalling statements by SDP MP Nenad Stazic about Bleiburg and Croatian Peasant Party leader Kreso Beljak about emigrants.

Jandrokovic said he had not heard from President Zoran Milanovic even one constructive proposal concerning coronavirus, the economy or security. “Nothing that has come from the president will help to defuse tensions and seek solutions.”

The prime minister should be given room to deal with coronavirus, the economy and security in never more demanding times, he added.