The Green-Left Bloc (ZLB) has called for establishing a national council to monitor compliance with sanctions against Russia and Belarus, saying that it is necessary to identify legal and private entities whose capital represents the Putin regime's influence on our economy and politics.

The parliamentary group’s whip Sandra Bencic told a press conference on Monday that Russia’s influence in Croatia is growing, adding that it is not good that it is significant in key strategic sectors because these are not classic investments but are aimed at expanding Russia’s geostrategic interests in Croatia.

She asserted that the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) refused the idea of a national council when ZLB first raised the issue in the parliament. This is an opportunity for the HDZ to show it is ready to eliminate the negative influence of Russian capital in Croatia by supporting the establishment of a parliamentary national council to monitor sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

The council would have the status of a parliamentary task force to monitor the implementation of sanctions against Russia and Belarus, individual citizens as well as legal and other entities related to Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The council would have 11 members, six of whom would be from the ruling majority and five from the opposition. The chair would be from the ranks of the opposition. The chair would have the authority not only to monitor and evaluate everything related to sanctions but also to report to the parliament at least once every two months regarding the implementation of the sanctions.

Referring to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s statement about the opposition being under Russian influence, Ivana Kekin said that in the six years of the Plenkovic government in Croatia, “Russian influence and capital have significantly strengthened,” especially, in important sectors such as energy, food industry, agriculture and tourism.

Kekin said that “the largest gas company in Croatia is the exclusive representative of Gazprom, that the Russian state bank VTB acquired the largest share with the takeover of Agrokor, that companies connected with Russian capital play a significant role in the takeover of Fortenova shares.”

Noting his dissatisfaction that Prime Minister Plenkovic and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic completely excluded the opposition from the International Crimea Platform Summit in Zagreb, Bojan Glavasevic said that “their initiative is above party and daily politics” and that “their proposal is useful for all other parliaments participating in the Crimea Summit.”