Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Saturday commented on the death threats he and the ministers received yesterday, saying that threats are constantly being made and should never be ignored, and that political rivals should be more serious about the present time.

Speaking to the press after the Bleiburg commemoration, Plenkovic said that yesterday he requested an overview of the threats made since 2016, adding that there have been very many but that the government has not been burdening the public with it.

“The interior minister told me that this morning there have been five such threats (called in) to police stations, just as it was yesterday,” he said, adding that it is a phenomenon that is here and that Croatia is handling it like other states are.

“Such threats should never be underestimated and that’s why the police and the intelligence services are taking action, trying to collect information, to establish what’s going on, whether someone might be behind them or not, which the Interior Ministry will explain.”

Plenkovic dismissed arguments that officials should not talk about this because the work of the secret services is secret.

“The argument… that we must not talk about that, that the services should talk about it, that it should be kept secret… It’s the other way around. In today’s communication times, the public should be told everything, things should be explained, and the terrorist act that happened in 2020 with the attack on the government should not be downplayed.”

Plenkovic said that “those who downplayed and underestimated that, and they were both on the right and the left of the political spectrum, should take the time we live in more seriously.”

The Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) agency’s report for 2022 clearly says that two groups were identified, with leaders and the goal to overthrow the constitutional order by force, he said. “That’s among us. It’s not something representing a fear that Croatia’s democratic values could be jeopardised, but such phenomena are here.”

Plenkovic said that a couple of months ago some political parties rallied outside the offices of the ruling HDZ to stage political protests and that among them were people with Molotov cocktails.

“We’ll talk about that, clearly articulating it, condemn, and the services will handle it,” he said, adding that the public should be made aware that there are people doing that, making threats, gathering, and making plans that are neither democratic nor peaceful.

Responding to a question, Plenkovic said that removing the fence put up in St. Mark’s Square after the 2020 terrorist attack on the government building was mostly being advocated by those who downplayed the attack.

Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković told the press that caution was necessary because of the threats. “There are radicalised individuals. You saw the SOA report talking about groups which… want to change the authorities by force.”

He said there was a basis to the threats against the prime minister. Speaking of the 2020 attack on the government, he said, “We witnessed something frightening, a young man, radicalised, shot at a Croatian policeman wanting to kill him. What more do you need?”

“I find it unbelievable that such events are being downplayed,” he added.

Jandroković said he trusted Croatian institutions and was confident that they would protect Croatian citizens.