The non-governmental organisation GONG declared on Thursday that it was the target of a smear campaign on social media, whereupon Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic questioned GONG's independence and future funding, adding that such an attack on those working for the integrity of the elections was unacceptable.

A few days ago, Plenkovic accused GONG of supporting left-wing options, claiming that If the government were to withhold funding due to bias, “then we would be accused of being dictators, pharaohs who do not promote pluralism.”

“The prime minister should insist on more ethics in political campaigns”

GONG said that “with such statements, “the prime minister is sending the message that he can influence the allocation of public funds to NGOs, which is extremely dangerous for democracy and social pluralism. In his statement, Plenkovic hints that he would be inclined to punish organisations that insist on free and fair elections.”

It is devastating for democracy that the prime minister implies that he has influence over the awarding of grants, which should be evaluated by independent evaluators and go to the NGOs that submit the best projects, GONG said. He added that the bulk of his project funding comes from EU grants, while funding from national agencies accounts for only 15 per cent of this year’s revenue.

GONG insists it works independently and is not affiliated to any political party, while impartially denouncing a number of parties and actors for their undemocratic practises.

“Instead of accusing GONG of bias, the prime minister should insist on more ethics in political campaigns, starting with the ruling party, as Meta, the owner of Facebook, has already proven that the HDZ youth used bots during the parliamentary election,” the NGO said.