More than 80 members of the Croatian parliament took the floor on Friday to put questions to Prime Minister-designate Andrej Plenkovic after he presented the future government's programme.

Some of the questions concerned the integration of foreign workers into society, the law on abortion and the law on the protection of the rights of all minorities.

When asked by Boska Ban-Vlahek (Social Democratic Party, SDP) what he intended to do with regard to the integration of foreign workers, Plenkovic said that the government would ensure “that “the influx of foreign workers is structured and organised, that workers are protected and properly integrated into society without ghettoisation.” He pointed out that Croatia had issued around 190,000 work permits for foreign workers last year and that 90,000 of these had been extended.

“During our term of office, real wage growth is still far above price growth and inflation”

With regard to the rights of people with disabilities, Plenkovic announced that the government would continue to make major investments, because “inclusion is the basis for equality in society.”

Ivana Kekin (Mozemo party) recalled that the Constitutional Court ruled in 2017 that a new law on abortion must be passed within two years, to which Plenkovic said that this decision does not bind the government, but the parliament.

“These were not our issues in 2017, nor are they today. The HDZ party is in favour of life. It is not in favour of a ban, because that is an achievement, but we must all ensure that there are as few (abortions) as possible,” he said.

When asked by Damir Bakic (Mozemo party) about the government’s plan to change the pension harmonisation formula and increase the average monthly pension to €750, the Prime Minister said this was realistic. “During our term of office, real wage growth is still well above price growth and inflation. I think the situation is stabilising as we expected,” he added.

“The government will continue to respect and protect the rights of all minorities, including sexual minorities”

On the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), Anka Mrak-Taritas (Civic-Liberal Alliance) asked the Prime Minister whether he would support the coalition partner’s initiatives to abolish the rights of same-sex cohabiting couples and whether they would have the right to assisted fertilisation and adoption.

“As far as the rights of all minorities, including sexual minorities, are concerned, the government will respect and protect the rights of all,” replied Plenkovic.

“We have talked about the so-called gender ideology. The government and all parts of the state system will take care of the implementation of the interpretative declaration and the ratification of the The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. As for everything else you mentioned, there is no indication that we could question anything that has been decided by Croatian courts,” Plenkovic said.

When asked by SDP MP Marija Lugaric what he considers a family to be and what measures he intends to introduce for families consisting of a man and a woman and their joint children who are not married, Plenkovic pointed out that “the government programme does not have to define everything that already exists in Croatia.” The demographic measures will definitely focus on the family, he added.