Domovinski pokret (DP) party member and newly elected MEP Stephen Nikola Bartulica said on Wednesday that he had not planned to drive a Ferrari on election night. He claimed this was spontaneous and warned that attempts were being made to remove him from public life.

I had not planned to come to the election headquarters in this way, it was a spontaneous idea, Bartulica said in an interview for Nova TV after it emerged that he had been driven in a red Ferrari on election night by a criminal convicted of attempted murder.

He would not want to reveal who had suggested he ride in the Ferrari, but he said it was not his idea.

As for the man who drove the expensive car, he said he knew he was the owner of the restaurant, but had no knowledge of his past.

“Public lynching and media abuse”

He said he was now sorry that he had left a bad impression.

He went on to say that he and his family were publicly lynched and abused in the media for ten days, which he said led to certain reactions and consequences for him.

Bartulica, who is currently in Brussels, said he had to report a death threat to the police. It came from a younger person and the message had been received via social networks.

He added that things escalated and said that journalist Andrej Dimitrijevic was waiting to photograph him one morning as he was driving the children to school and that he reported this to the Ombudswoman for Children.

“Certain circles have simply decided to oust me from the public sphere”

Bartulica believes they are trying to “wipe the floor” with him because he fulfils three main criteria – he is a devout Catholic, a conservative politician and a returnee from the diaspora.

“Certain circles simply decided to oust me from the public sphere and now we are where we are,” said Bartulica, who was called on Wednesday by DP President Ivan Penava to make a public statement and apologise for riding in a Ferrari with people with criminal pasts.

Bartulica said he was aware of the damage and understood his party colleagues who had offended him.

He also said that he had updated his asset declaration, which became a topic in the media after it emerged that the instalments on his home loan were only slightly lower than his salary. He emphasised that he had taken out a loan in a completely legal way to buy a house.