President Milanović: I can’t stop the Defense Minister from going somewhere, but I won’t refrain from commenting when I see something harmful and immoral

“The ambassador of Israel stated that there is a terrorist den in the Iranian embassy in the middle of Zagreb. The Croatian public doesn’t need that kind of harassment. We don’t want other people’s infections and germs in Croatia, neither Iranian nor Israeli. Let the gentlemen behave accordingly. This is Zagreb, brother, not Tel Aviv”, the President of the Republic, Zoran Milanović, said on commenting on the Israeli ambassador being summoned to the Office of the President of the Republic on account of his earlier statements.

“We don’t actually have any special relations with Iran, but Iran is a member of the UN that was attacked without a UN mandate. Indeed, when it comes to the Middle East, just like Israel, Iran is prone to certain terrorist methods. What is killing in Gaza but terrorism, and what is abuse by Israeli soldiers but terrorism? However, when it comes to Europe, Iran does not act as a terrorist in Europe, at least as far as I know. All terrorism in Europe is Sunni, not Shiite. Iran has not carried out terror attacks in Europe so far against civilians, our citizens,” President Milanović added.

The President also answered a question about his cooperation with the Defense Minister. “I can’t stop him from going somewhere, but I won’t refrain from commenting when I see that something is harmful and immoral. He may be a colleague, but in the chain of command and hierarchy, the commander in chief is the commander in chief. We are not at the same political level, we are not interlocutors. The Prime Minister is another matter. As for the Minister, let him continue to travel, President Milanović stated.

As for the Prime Minister, the President said: “He has decided that this system suits him. In diplomacy, he has arranged the personnel structure with the former president and does not want to change it. There is nothing that threatens him politically or consequentially, he can simply do as he pleases. It is an abuse of the system, but without consequences”.

The President of the Republic further commented on the start of basic military training, saying that “the return of military service to Croatia is acceptable because we have not managed to secure a sufficient number of professional soldiers”. “Anything more than what we had is good. According to the organization, we lack several thousand soldiers and officers. We were not able to attract enough people to fill the positions according to the criteria and standards that we ourselves set in agreement with NATO,” the President explained.

He added that he is not involved with the details of military training, unless someone forces him to start dealing with that as well, and he again referred to Minister Anušić: “We are not equal. My mandate and his are not the same. He can buy something trivial for the Croatian Army, and I cannot prevent it. And then later they will answer to some other bodies or they will not, because they are enslaved. I cannot talk to Anušić because he has a boss, I do not have one, my boss is the citizens”.

The journalists also asked the President about independent representatives transferring to the ruling majority. “Ask Zurovec, he answers to the voters. In Croatia, these standards are shockingly low. Anyone can join a combination with anyone at any time. It should be acknowledged that Zurovec entered Parliament as an independent, he is master of his own destiny and will live with the consequences of his decision,” President Milanović noted.

When asked whether the State Attorney’s Office (DORH) should be involved in this political transfer, President Milanović replied: “Who is at the head of the State Attorney’s Office? The State Attorney’s Office is led by a politician who was not elected to that post but was appointed, installed by Plenković. That is why this office has huge powers without a democratic mandate. This branch of government must be overseen by someone, so do the courts”.

Commenting on the loss of the arbitration in the INA case, President Milanović said that “Sanader’s bravura has come due because we have to pay almost 250 million euros to MOL.” “Whether INA should have been sold to MOL after the initial sale of 25 percent of the shares during the Račan government is also a topic for discussion. However, in 2009, Sanader practically handed INA over to the Veterans’ Fund, and so MOL took over the Croatian oil company. So what now? Who is to blame? This is an act, I won’t say high treason, but I can’t think of another word. Why did it have to be done? Why did everything have to be sold to the Hungarians, to the point where they have absolute control over business and finances? People forget such things, so I remind them,” President Milanović concluded.