Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Gordan Jandrokovic of the HDZ party said on Thursday that he had the impression that the partners in the governing coalition - the HDZ and the Domovinski pokret (DP) - showed a very good will to form a stable government capable of tackling all crucial issues in the next four years.

“There are many challenges, there are wars being fought, there is uncertainty about future developments on the European continent and beyond, there are security and economic challenges as well as demographic challenges in Croatia and Europe alike. So there are many demanding tasks that require know-how, responsibility and seriousness from the government structures,” said Jandrokovic after a wreath-laying ceremony on the occasion of Statehood Day, which Croatia celebrates on 30 May.

The dialogue will be resumed after the EP elections

When asked by the press about official invitations to the opposition for new meetings, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said: “We are currently in a phase of intensive election campaigning for the European Parliament.”

“The next session of Parliament is planned for the week after the EP elections, and then we will resume the dialogue.”

The Prime Minister said that his message to the opposition was very similar to the one he had sent them after the 2020 parliamentary election to seek dialogue, recalling that “all of them refused with disgust to come to Government House (for a meeting) and created an atmosphere of polarisation.”

Plenkovic said the HDZ does not want a political culture in which some insist “it’s either us or them”, or “either you are an HDZ supporter or a human being”.

“Such people negate the foundations of Croatian democracy, spread a culture of disrespect and discrimination and teach young people that this (polarisation) is normal. This is bad for decency and goes against the spirit of mutual respect,” said Plenkovic.