Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic spoke to journalists after the traditional Christmas reception of the Serb National Council in Zagreb and commented on the second round of the presidential election.

Presidential candidate Dragan Primorac said he did not communicate directly with him after the first round of the presidential election.

“I do not know if he said that, we talk to each other every day,” Plenkovic said about Primorac’s statements. He maintains that the party remains committed to the election campaign. “This is an election campaign where the most important thing is ahead of us, namely the debate on Tuesday, and there the Croatian people will have the opportunity to see why it would be bad to vote for Zoran Milanovic,” the prime minister said.

“The more visible he is, the greater his chances,” said Plenkovic, referring to Dragan Primorac’s participation in debates where his opponent Zoran Milanovic did not show up.

He described President Milanovic’s policy as “hypocritical and false” and said that it had “led Croatia towards Russia.”

“Do not trust Milanovic, the man has been lying to you for months”

“Everything he has done has been against our strategic interests, the EU and NATO. If he had at least had the courage to say, like Orban, that we will not participate in NATO. Then he comes back here and lies to the Croatian people, scaring them for months that Croatian soldiers will fight someone else’s war in Ukraine. You have to be very malicious and perfidious to deceive people in this way and try to win election through fear.

People, do not trust Milanovic, the man has been lying to you for months, shamelessly. Nobody wants to send Croatian soldiers to Ukraine. One lie after another, an accumulation of lies. Unfortunately, they are not destroyed or exposed by the Croatian media. If the media had dismantled them, which most did not, then these empty phrases would not sound appealing to anyone in the election campaign, and people would say, ‘Look at this guy, he is lying and trying to deceive us.’ It’s ridiculous that anyone would support such a campaign of lies,” he said.

Confident about Primorac’s victory

When asked whether it would be easier for him if the president had less power, Plenkovic replied: “He himself said 1 per cent for him, 99 per cent for the government. This election is important for legitimacy from the entire electorate.”

Plenkovic says that the party discussed the candidates.

“Ivan Anusic was the fairest, he said he would not run, but he could if it was absolutely necessary. Attempts to sow discord in the HDZ will not succeed. This is the case with every HDZ party candidate,” Plenkovic said, adding that Dragan Primorac was doing well in the polls until “the media put him through the meat grinder.”

“This is not new for us. You can only trust me because I am the party leader, and I have spoken to everyone who needed to be spoken to. If someone had wanted that, they would have been the candidate,” said Plenkovic in response to further questions on the topic.

When asked whether he would co-operate with the President of the Republic, Plenkovic said: “We will see if Primorac wins.”