Predrag Matic, member of the Committee on Gender Equality in the European Parliament, believes that a possible coalition between the HDZ and the Domovinski pokret (DP) parties after the election could be jeopardised by the DP's insistence on the de-ratification of the Istanbul Convention.

The demand is unacceptable for HDZ leader Andrej Plenkovic, who sees his future in Brussels, said Matic, who is a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

He noted that the HDZ had so far shown that it was prepared to do almost anything to stay in power, but he hoped that it would not go that far this time, as the de-ratification of the Istanbul Convention would be a major scandal in the EU.

De-ratification of the Istanbul Convention would be too big a risk for the HDZ

“I am sure that they would be harshly criticised for this,” he said, recalling that Plenkovic had found it difficult to convince the right wing of his party to vote in favour of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.

Even though the document was ratified, it remains a dead letter. Nothing is being done to implement it, Matic said, adding that this is evidenced by the fact that no budgetary resources are being allocated for its application.

However, de-ratification of Istanbul Convention would be too big a risk for the HDZ, Matic said, noting that in that case, European politicians would definitely turn away from Plenkovic.

“In terms of worldview, Croatia is now on a par with Poland and Hungary, and that is definitely not a compliment from the point of view of civilised countries,” said Matic, calling for new progress in human and minority rights.