The government's plan to send Croatian officers to the NSATU mission prompted MP Marijan Pavlicek to remark on Tuesday that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic looked more like the prime minister of Ukraine than Croatia, to which Plenkovic replied that he was quoting the manipulative statements of the head of state.

“You look more like the prime minister of Ukraine than Croatia,” Pavlicek, a Croatian Sovereignist MP, told Plenkovic, accusing him of violating democracy and putting pressure on MPs over the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) mission.

“What is your position, that of three years ago, when you had diplomatic relations with Russia, or that of today? And will it remain the same when Trump comes to power?” Pavlicek asked.

MPs from the SDP party will not put any questions to the Prime Minister

“You are echoing Milanovic’s manipulative statements, which have led to people not seeing the wood for the trees,” replied Plenkovic, stressing that Ukraine was a victim of Russian aggression supported by the entire Western world and that it was the first UN member to recognise Croatia.

“The fact that someone who comes from Vukovar is not willing to get involved is not funny,” Plenkovic said, asking Pavlicek whether he believed that Croatian officers were safer in Wiesbaden or in Lebanon, Iraq and Kosovo.

Plenkovic also mentioned SDP party MP Arsen Bauk, the chairman of the parliament’s defence committee, and criticised his non-attendance at committee meeting on Monday..

SDP MPs will not put any questions to the Prime Minister during Question Time because they do not want to participate in quarrels and insults where citizens are called stupid and need to be” educated”, MP Misel Jaksic said in reference to an earlier statement by Plenkovic in which he asked Finance Minister Marko Primorac about the abolition of fees that banks charge for account management.

“We are monitoring the situation, a large number of banks increased their fees at the beginning of the year, and when we learnt about this, we decided to react,” the minister said, adding that talks had taken place with representatives of the Croatian Banking Association, who had asked banks to regulate more precisely and determine the methodology for calculating the fee.

Anusic: Serious states are thinking about their future

The government will present a proposal for the basic account, which will be used for the payment of salaries and will be exempt from the bank fee, the minister said.

MP Ivica Kukavica from the Domovinski pokret (DP) party asked Defence Minister Ivan Anusic about the modernisation of the Croatian army. The minister announced further investments in the procurement of weapons, the improvement of soldiers’ entitlements and the reintroduction of compulsory military service.

“Serious states are thinking about their future. We have just started the project of reintroducing compulsory military service, although this year we already have 636 volunteers for military training, which is a doubling of the number of volunteers compared to last year,” said Anusic.

Serb minority MP Milorad Pupovac enquired about the death of 66-year-old returnee Milan Pantelic, who was found dead in front of his house in Banski Grabovac.

The results of the investigation point to foul play. The police are investigating the connection, but it is most likely a murder for profit that has nothing to do with the victim’s status as a returnee or member of a certain ethnic group or ethnic minority, said Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic.