Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenkovic accused the Mozemo party of being the driving force behind the hysteria on the political stage. He claimed that the NGO GONG supports left-wing options and that the only political programme of President Zoran Milanovic is his fixation on him.

“We have nothing to do with it; we find it amusing. They should get a grip,” Plenkovic said after a meeting of HDZ party bodies on Monday.

He was responding to claims by Mozemo presidential candidate Ivana Kekin and other Mozemo members that the HDZ was conducting a defamation campaign against Kekin and her party following a meeting between her husband Mile Kekin and Nikica Jelavic.

“Completely abnormal, unhealthy for the political scene”

Plenkovic said he had ‘not seen “such hatred, lies, fabrications and absurdities in the media for a long time”. “Their method of defence is to attack the HDZ, and that has nothing to do with me or the HDZ,” Plenkovic reiterated.

“What’s the problem with saying what the coffee meeting was about? Who could benefit from that? Certainly not us,” he said.

“I ask all those who accuse the HDZ of being involved in this – are you serious? This is totally abnormal, unhealthy for the political scene, and on top of that there is a huge amount of hate speech,” he said.

Plenkovic also commented on the statement by the incumbent president and SDP candidate Zoran Milanovic that Plenkovic is a danger to democracy.

“He is the perfect person to lecture me about democracy. He loses an election, does not congratulate, steps out of his role as president, interferes in the parliamentary election, violates constitutional principles, licks his wounds for three months after a crushing defeat and now chooses the strategy of saying as little as possible,” Plenkovic said.

“Milanovic has neither achievements nor a coherent programme”

Plenkovic described Milanovic as someone who attacked the media, blocked the appointment of the State Attorney-General in what he called the most transparent selection process to date, insulted constitutional judges, spoke out against NATO and European solidarity with Ukraine and propagated pro-Russian views.

“This is the man who wants to teach us democracy? And let’s not forget the ‘wailing women’ whom he used to insult and who now support him because they suffer from Stockholm syndrome,” he said, referring to Marijana Puljak (Centre) and Dalija Oreskovic (DOSIP party), whom Milanovic once called wailing women.

Plenkovic went on to say that Milanovic had neither successes nor a coherent programme. “This nonsense about being a barrier against anti-democratic bullies like me – well, heaven help anyone who believes that. You’d have to have a serious problem to buy it. His only programme is his fixation on me,” said Plenkovic.

On the allegations regarding the Kekin family’s land purchase

When asked whether State Attorney-General Ivan Turudic interfered in the presidential election campaign after the State Attorney’s Office (DORH) launched an investigation into the Kekin family’s land purchase in Istria – which Ivana Kekin has repeatedly said was transparent and legal – Plenkovic countered with the question: “Did USKOK actively interfere in the presidential election campaign when (Health Minister Vili) Beros was arrested?”

When asked by journalists whether it would be appropriate for the DORH to conclude its investigation before the elections on 29 December, Plenkovic replied that he was not aware of any obligation for the DORH or USKOK to adhere to election dates.

“I know of no law on criminal proceedings that binds investigations to the timing of elections,” he said.

Plenkovic also attacked the non-governmental organisation GONG, which accused the HDZ of orchestrating the smear campaign against Kekin and Mozemo and linked the TikTok platform “Ne Mozemo” (We Can’t) to the HDZ.

“I call on the GONG team to comb through the social media profiles that are full of hate speech against me and the HDZ, report them to these large platforms and demand action to stop the hate speech from about 100,000 of these accounts. GONG is an NGO whose only criterion is support for left-wing political camps,” Plenkovic concluded.