Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday fuel prices would have been about 2 kuna per liter higher without the government's measures and that they would see if more could be done, and added that for now the government did not plan to amend the law regulating pregnancy termination.

“We’ll see, given the circumstances, if more can be done about it because these past two to three weeks prices have been constantly going up,” he told the press after a session of his HDZ party’s Presidency and National Council.

Commenting on the case of Mirela Cavajda, who wants to terminate her pregnancy, Plenković said it was a delicate case. “This is not a political but a health question to which professionals should respond.”

He said that the Constitutional Court waited 27 years to decide on the law on pregnancy termination.

“The framework of the Constitutional Court’s decision is clear and it only says that certain things should be done to modify the law, but nothing in it would be changed in terms of substance. It’s more about additional information and efforts so that in the end there are as few abortions as possible. There is no ban.”

Asked if women in Croatia had the right to decide about giving birth, Plenkovic said, “They have the right, but no one can be denied the right to conscientious objection. Those two things exist simultaneously.”

The prime minister also announced that on Thursday the government would discuss a budget revision which would take into account the energy crisis, union demands, and healthcare expenditures.

Asked if healthcare would be reformed soon, he said the pandemic had cost 40 billion kuna and that Croatia didn’t set aside per capita as much as other EU member states.

The minister is working on the reform together with his team of experts, he added.

Asked about President Zoran Milanovic’s request for convening the National Security Council, Plenkovic said he would reply when the time came.

He also said he was satisfied with the HDZ’s approval rating. In the sixth year of our term, we have convincing support, which is very good, he added.