President Milanović: Banks Are not the Authority, and the National Bank, the Government and Parliament Must Take Make Sure Banks Do not Get out of Control
On the eve of the General Convention of the Supreme Court which should give its opinion on the candidate for Supreme Court president Radovan Dobronić, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović repeated in Sisak today that he said what he had to say, and that he will propose Radovan Dobronić to Parliament for president of the Supreme Court. “And they are asked for their opinion, we’ll hear their opinion”, he added thinking about the Supreme Court.
He also briefly said about judge Dobronić: “The person has a biography, I think that says it all. I see that he is not flaunting himself in the media, he hasn’t turned himself into a star, which is very good, because he is not running for a political post, but for Supreme Court president. I will propose him for that post”.
“In the whole election mechanism there is a little politics, the reason being that the Supreme Court and the judges do not to manage it. Certain limits have to be set, independence of the judiciary yes, but complete independence, total irresponsibility, that doesn’t exist anywhere. If the majority in Parliament wants that, let them do it, but we will again have to explain it to the Croatian public. Therefore, at the moment I see that no one has managed to defame Mr. Dobronić, either as an expert, or as a person. Zlata Đurđević was insulted, slandered, dragged through the mud, and she didn’t accept that”, President Milanović added about the election of the Supreme Court president.
Asked whether he discussed this matter with the Prime Minister – since they managed to agree on the appointment of the head of Office of the National Security Council – President Milanović replied: “Ms. Čavlović’s mandate was due to expire, she carried out her job in a correct way. She didn’t come from the system but outside of it, which doesn’t have to be a problem, sometimes it’s necessary. My approach is that these individuals should rotate on a regular basis, it’s not a sacred rule, but it would be a good thing. As far as I’m concerned, Ms. Čavlović will enter the Croatian diplomacy, she’ll be head of mission somewhere, she’s qualified for that post. She has done complex work, she has done it correctly. Valentino Franjić comes from the system, I have not personally known him, but my closest associates who headed that system know him. We agreed on that. That was discussed, it wasn’t negotiated”.
The President of the Republic commented on the problem of high interest rates on tacitly accepted bank overdrafts. Asked if it reminds him of the case of the Swiss franc, he answered: “No it doesn’t remind me of that because the case of the Swiss franc was huge, as huge as life itself for many Croatian people, for thousands of families. If someone stepped on the banks’ toes, I have, and I think that I have some credibility to talk about this case too. Banks are like fire, they are a good servant but a horrible master, and they must not be allowed to do just anything they want. Banks in Europe, and our banks are in general subsidiaries or parts of a system of big or bigger European banks, those banks have been making very little profits lately. Banks must make profits, and the regulators – not only the National Bank, but all those who were given a mandate from the people, i.e. politics, Parliament and the Government – must first of all make sure that banks are not allowed to get completely out of control”.
President Milanović reminded that American and Asian banks have a much broader spectrum of possibilities to charge fees for everything than European ones. “In Europe it is much stricter, interest rates are quite low and that’s why banks are seeking ways to make profits. One has to be a partner with the banks, but they should know who’s the boss – the government. Banks are not the authority, not even national or central banks, they have to be independent to a large extent, but it is known whom the citizens elect, in whom they place their trust. At the moment this is some kind of tacit agreement between banks and their clients in which both parties know what is going on. That will probably stop now, but banks will again find a way to charge fees for their services because that’s how they are regulated – and it’s good they are – and they have to make a profit. A bank without a profit is fiction, that doesn’t exist”, President Milanović said among others.
Since members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Džaferović and Komšić made comments on his views on Bosnia and Herzegovina, journalists were interested in hearing what he had to say about their reactions. “They are not people with honest intentions. I know what I have done in the last 15 years, and how much faith and hope I have placed in some people and some concepts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it simply does not work. It stood some chances during the term of Sulejman Tihić. Now it stands no chance. The aggressive, insolent and direct threat that Bosnia and Herzegovina will be different from how it was conceived is not good. Such things fuel serious conflicts”, President Milanović stated.
He reiterated that he will further defend the interests of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina because it is his Constitutional duty. “It is my duty, it is written in the Croatian Constitution and always has been. I ran for president of the Republic accepting that it is my job to defend those interests, otherwise I would never have run for president, because I would have to violate the Constitution. I’m doing my job, it’s a good thing that I believe in this and I will fight for this. Whoever thinks they can change things with nice words and an activist approach – cannot”, President Milanović concluded.