President Milanović Confirms Judge Mirta Matić as Candidate for President of the Supreme Court

“A candidate for president of the Supreme Court is Mirta Matić, a person I feel is completely up to the job. She applied for the post after also speaking to Plenković,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović stated today, confirming Mirta Matić as candidate for president of the Supreme Court.

Since the Prime Minister previously agreed to her candidacy, the President wondered what the real point of the public call for candidates was. “We simulate a public call, and basically, we use the same methods that have been in force for 30 years and that are in accordance with the Croatian Constitution, namely that the president proposes. The president does not propose just anyone that comes to mind, but we hold consultations”, President Milanović explained. “This time even the Supreme Court voted very convincingly in favour of this individual”, he added.

President Milanović further commented on the reintroduction of mandatory basic military training. “As many European states, our Constitution mentions conscientious objection, and that is a huge barrier to the kind of recruitment that used to exist. We will see how much sense the whole model makes. I hope it makes sense, because I am a Croatian citizen, the Croatian president and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces, and it bothers me that the Croatian Army is severely understaffed. Many officer and NCO positions are unfilled because we don’t have the people. The job of the military is to defend, deter, and wage war, and that can’t be done without people“, President Milanović said.

“I accept all Plenković has proposed and I even accepted that he proposed three quarters of all posts. I didn’t want to look around for candidates and this seemed like a good compromise. Those I proposed and stand behind are the minority, I left most of the posts to him, expecting the agreement to be routine”, President Milanović stated in his response to a journalist’s question as to how talks are progressing regarding the selection of new ambassadors. “Someone doesn’t want any agreement so they make up stories about the candidates. If the candidates I proposed are irrelevant, then we will analyze whom you proposed, and I will conclude that your candidates are even more than irrelevant”, President Milanović noted, repeating that he accepts everything the Prime Minister has put on the table.