President of the Republic: Pelješac Bridge is a big thing for Croatia, the more bridges the better

29. July 2021.
17:30

After participating in a formal session of the Korčula Municipal Council, President Milanović took questions from journalists. When asked if he should have been invited to yesterday’s Pelješac Bridge completion ceremony, the President replied: “The bridge is a big thing for Croatia, the more bridges the better. Croatia is joined together now. I would like to thank the people who are immensely responsible for that, stemming from the period of the project’s beginnings, and they are the former transport minister Siniša Hajdaš Dončić and former director of the Hrvatske Ceste national road management company Edi Kos, who is never mentioned. These are the people who have done all the work politically and technically and they deserve praise. The decision was made in 2013 to allocate practically all the funds from the operational programme for the construction of road infrastructure, for the Pelješac Bridge and access roads, and we had a dilemma as there would have been fewer funds for other projects, but we decided – we are going to build the Pelješac Bridge. The process started in 2005, almost 20 years ago, even before (the initiative of Dubrovnik-Neretva County Prefect Ivan) Šprlje. It’s a long time, but it was worth the wait.”

In his statements to the press, President Milanović commented on the third public call for the selection of the President of the Supreme Court: “As far as I am aware, two judges have announced that they will apply. That shows that the public call for applications was in fact designed as some form of unlawful and unconstitutional pressure on the proposer and the only constitutional proposer is the President of the Republic. I can understand some people’s need to constantly be in the media spotlight, to be written about, so let me make a suggestion to them: engage in politics, go out before the people, let the people elect you, not some interest groups. That’s a lot harder. My biggest reward is that the people who live here have elected me President of the Republic, perhaps partially because of what we did for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge. Judges who want to be involved in politics and be in the media all the time, who want to be important, should declare themselves as politicians and enter the election process, and I am telling them that it hurts.”

The President of the Republic added that he would not give in to any form of pressure and that he would propose, in accordance with his constitutional powers, whom he considered to be the most competent for the President of the Supreme Court, as was his former candidate professor Zlata Đurđević who, as President Milanović put it, underwent a “barrage” of insults and lies during the selection process.

PHOTO : Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan