Be Responsible and Practice Social Distancing
Accompanied by the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces and the Director of Zagreb’s Dubrava Hospital, the President of the Republic of Croatia Zoran Milanović toured a medical camp for patients infected with the novel coronavirus outside Dubrava Hospital, which was erected by the Croatian Armed Forces.
“I thank the Armed Forces and the physicians and nurses for all they are doing. I hope that we will not meet again in the medical camp in front of Dubrava Hospital and that this will end up as just another military exercise,” said the President of the Republic.
The President stressed that he does not strongly advocate using the Armed Forces to assist the police in controlling citizens’ compliance with recommendations on interpersonal distance and that at the moment he does not support introducing a general lockdown, emphasizing that it is crucial for people to be responsible and act as if they were infected – although they may not be.
“The key is for everyone to make such a contribution and then the problem will be much smaller. We know a lot more now; about who gets sick, who dies, it is unfortunately the elderly and those who have underlying conditions. But we learned our lesson, and about the importance of practicing social distancing, of socializing with only a few people, of not going out … it’s that simple. In some ways, the rest comes down to mathematics and to having patience,” said the President of the Republic.
President Milanović explained why he does not support introducing a general lockdown. “At the moment, I do not see the need for that – not just because I want to sound positive, but because at the moment I still do not see the need. In situations such as this, one does not have to be the first to act. It might be good to be a bit of an opportunist, at least sometimes. Restraint in decision making makes sense, everyone acts like that. We can learn by observing reactions in the United States. They are repeating the same little mistakes that Europe made a month ago. Nobody is the smartest. Nobody knows everything. There is no ‘classic profession’ at work here. I do not support a general lockdown at the moment.”
President Milanović also commented on the announced public sector salary cuts. “I am a politician, you can cut my salary as a symbolic example but reducing the minimum wage in the public sector means death to the system,” said the President of the Republic, adding that whoever had made that proposal was not very clever. “You can reduce the President’s or the Prime Minister’s salary, but you cannot do it to the Minister of Health because at this stage he works more than I do,” he said.
The President stressed that the suspension of Parliament’s work should be avoided. “The Parliament is there to care about others and not vice versa. It can continue its work with precautionary and sanitary measures. That should be the last option; I do not see the need for it at the moment. If the Parliament’s work is suspended, then unfortunately we have a situation where the country is run by two people, but I don’t see that happening. If it becomes necessary, someone else will be making that decision – not I. We are a democracy and decisions in these circumstances – which are dangerous but not yet on a massive scale – are made more slowly, sometimes by trial and error, and there is always a price to be paid. Even though some are irresponsible, it is essential that the vast majority of people adhere to measures and the vast majority is doing so. I call for staying calm and not being gullible or naïve,” the President underscored.
