With regard to the new government, consisting of the HDZ and Domovinski pokret (DP) parties, President Zoran Milanovic said on Wednesday that not even Vladimir Putin would have thought up such a deception. He emphasised that there is no danger of Ustashism and extremism in Croatia, but rather of a corruption cartel.

“Not even Vladimir Putin would have come up with something like this, it’s called maskirovka, you preach one thing and do another. The story spread by (Croatian Serb leader) Milorad Pupovac and his satellites that Plenkovic is a protector of Croatia against extremism, against Ustashism, is a fabrication. Plenkovic made a deal with the party that got 10% of the vote in the election, and they got nothing. Obviously, there is a reason why they are not asking for anything from Plenkovic,” Milanovic said.

“Croatia is threatened by a corruption cartel, this cartel is the HDZ, and this threat is real. The voters wanted (Plenkovic) to go and he is still prime minister. Is that unconstitutional? No, it is not. Is it disgusting? It is. Someone was ready to step in and fill the gaps without asking for anything in return,” Milanovic said in Rijeka, where he attended a special session of the University of Rijeka Senate on the occasion of University Day.

“Croatia is not threatened by Ustashism, but by corruption and thievery”

As for the leader of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Milorad Pupovac, whose party is not a part of the parliamentary majority because the DP demanded it, Milanovic said that “where (Pupovac) lives and where he causes problems with his maudlin whining, no one votes for him.”

“There is no danger for the rise of the extreme right in Croatia, they will probably ask Pupovac to vote with them in a month,” he said.

“Croatia is not threatened by Ustashism, but by corruption and thievery if Pupovac and his ilk vote for (State Attorney-General) Ivan Turudic. This man does what Plenkovic tells him to do… this kind of love is unprecedented,” he said, adding that there have not been and will not be any real ethnically motivated incidents in Croatia for a long time.

“We are free from that, if anyone wants to restore such an atmosphere, it is some members of the DP and Pupovac who cannot do without each other,” he said.

Regarding the proposal to increase the salaries of government ministers, Milanovic said: “HDZ officials do not live on their salaries, but MPs do, and their salaries should be indexed because they have remained the same for years.”

When asked about his own salary, he said that he had not thought about it and that his current salary was sufficient for him.