President Milanović: Invitation to Board of Peace is a topic for the National Security Council
“The initiative to found the Board of Peace has a legal basis, a Resolution of the UN Security Council of last year. A legal framework exists. Whoever complains that this is outside the UN system and that it is illegal – it is not. The second question is – is it good? This is a serious precedent for transferring the mandate to resolve a serious security and humanitarian crisis to a system and body outside the UN”, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović stated today, commenting on the invitation to Croatia to join the Board of Peace which was founded by US President Donald Trump.
“Does Croatia belong there? And how did Croatia even get the invitation and at what moment did it receive it? Whom did we get the invitation from? Did Croatia ask for it? Was it a decision of the US administration and how many states in general received the invitation? There are more questions“, the President added, speaking about the Board of Peace and wondered should he now “assume responsibility at a moment when Plenković doesn’t know what to do with that hot and sticky potato“?
“And so he decides everything on his own and comes up with everything on his own. He uses extortion methods to appoint some of the fundamental bodies from the constitutional structure of Croatia, and I don’t see why he would be interested in my opinion”, added President Milanović, and revealed that the Prime Minister “tried to contact him by phone last night through an intermediary, after a hundred years”.
“The Prime Minister can make that decision by himself. It wouldn’t be constitutional, but there is no one who can call him to account. Now he needs me. How is it that he cannot do without me now? He calls when he needs cover because it’s hard for him to say – no. In this case, I suspect that he wants to say no”, the President said, and underlined that this is a topic for the National Security Council”. “We’ll probably talk, according to some arrangements, but I don’t see what I could tell him on the phone”, he said, and repeated that the National Security Council is the level at which this topic should be discussed.
The President also commented on the linking of the elections of the President of the Supreme Court and the judges of the Constitutional Court, which the Prime Minister insists on: “I am responsible for only one issue, I am not responsible for the Constitutional Court judges. I can propose one individual, whom I already have. According to Plenković’s metrics, value system and interpretation of the Constitution, it turns out that as long as his wish and ultimatum to have complete control of the Constitutional Court are fulfilled, the candidate for President of the Supreme Court can be anyone. In my view, this cannot be. I decide on this and propose it as a constitutional authority“.
He reiterated that judge Mirta Matić is his candidate. “Plenković was aware of this, I considered the matter agreed upon, but I suspected there was a plan B. It doesn’t occur to me to talk to the SDP, they didn’t ask me to do so, nor would I agree to it,” President Milanović said, adding that “as Prime Minister, I have never claimed that I have the majority in the Constitutional Court.” He described the Prime Minister’s ultimatum, according to which the ruling majority must nominate two of the three constitutional judges, as “an attempt at total domination, for the Constitutional Court to allow any insubordination.”
“I announced that Mirta Matić is the only possible candidate so that there are no dilemmas at all and that we do not mislead people with illusions about a public call. She is my candidate and I stand behind her. When and if the Parliamentary committee makes any decision, I will propose her. Before that, I cannot do so under the Constitution,” President Milanović said, reiterating his position on the election of the President of the Supreme Court.
The President of the Republic stated that he would not comment on the nomination of the minister when asked about the nomination of Tomislav Ćorić as the new Finance Minister.
Commenting on his visit to the Croatian Air Force Command yesterday, President Milanović said that he “saw what he already knows and talked to people there”.
“These people mean a lot to us. We lack four thousand people in the army, including soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers. That is a problem. We are now counting on this recruitment attempt to fill the structure and reach 17 thousand members, but it will not be by force. What I want are real volunteers. Young men have the right to choose, civilian or real military service. And I suggest real military service to them. Young men, go for it, two months, it is a good thing. That way we will help ourselves. There is no way to force anyone who does not want to. Everyone has the right to conscientious objection. My appeal is – use it as little as possible because soldiers are not murderers, soldiers are something without which the state cannot exist. And our history has shown this many times. The army is important, but we will have to achieve this through persuasion and manipulation,” President Milanović said.