The President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 called out the Government on Friday for the slow reconstruction of earthquake-affected areas, notably in the Banija region, saying \u201cfrighteningly little\u201d has been done and that it \u201cpains me to see that (the Bosnian Serb entity) has reconstructed more than the Croatian Government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAfter two years, I can interpret that only as epic incompetence or perhaps negligence, absence of elementary empathy for those mostly poorest Croatian citizens. Because that degree of poverty does not exist in some other parts of Croatia, it is especially prominent in Banija,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 told a press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Commenting on numbers which show that only six family houses have been built in Banija since the December 2020 earthquake and that works are under way on another 88, he said they meant that \u201cnothing has been done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA mere 100 houses. That\u2019s frighteningly little, yet we received money also from the EU,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Milanovi\u0107 said no one could be held accountable but the Government. \u201cIt is the Government that has the cloth, scissors, tailoring sheets. It has everything,\u201d he said. Human patience has a limit, you can justify many aggravating circumstances, but there have been none in the last two years, he said, reiterating the availability of EU funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe European Union and the entire Western world are floating on an air cushion of huge amounts of somewhat fictitious money, but if you spend it immediately, it is not fictitious,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether he should talk more often about this and thus pressure the Government, President Milanovi\u0107 said, \u201cIs it really my job to exert pressure on the Government?\u201d given the President\u2019s constitutional powers. As head of state, he added, he is not a member of any party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a limit to what I, according to some custom, code, should even do, but I did it and have been quite benevolent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that on yesterday\u2019s anniversary of the earthquake, neither Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovi\u0107 nor any minister visited Banija. \u201cI went both where they did and didn\u2019t like me, where they booed. Plenkovi\u0107 is avoiding that in a panic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked to comment on the Government\u2019s announcement that 2023 would be the year of reconstruction, President Milanovi\u0107 said, \u201cI no longer believe (them). If you are a fool, you continue to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the question of when everything would be reconstructed should be put to Prime Minister Plenkovi\u0107. \u201cI thought most of it would be solved in a year and that the authorities would then boast about it. However, they are experiencing justified criticisms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The President of the Republic commented on a decision by Defence Minister Mario Bano\u017ei\u0107 according to which the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Admiral Robert Hranj remains in service for another six months, saying that it \u201conly prolongs Hranj\u2019s agony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will only talk about Andrej Plenkovi\u0107. Bano\u017ei\u0107 is only a medium through which this is released to the public. He does not mean anything. He does not decide anything but signs decisions. So yesterday, he signed the decision to prolong the agony or the life of the Chief of the General Staff, whom I appointed at the Government\u2019s recommendation, for another half year so that the moral blackmail, the passive aggression… continues,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 told a press conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, you\u2019re not going to do that, Plenkovi\u0107… you didn\u2019t appoint him, and you won\u2019t remove him,\u201d said President Milanovi\u0107.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Admiral Hranj turns 60 next year and he could retire, which is being speculated. However, President Milanovi\u0107 underscored that this does not apply to the Chief of the General Staff because there was a decision by former Defence Minister Damir Krsti\u010devi\u0107 from 2020 that Admiral Hranj would hold that position for four years, until the end of his term, which was ignored after Bano\u017ei\u0107\u2019s decision yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Milanovi\u0107 assessed that the decision to extend Admiral Hranj\u2019s term for six months was a \u201csociopathic plot.\u201d He called Bano\u017ei\u0107\u2019s decision void and assessed that the same method is being used to undermine the entire defence system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Milanovi\u0107 went on to say that if Bano\u017ei\u0107 was not \u201cpicked up sooner or later\u201d by the State Prosecutor\u2019s Office (DORH) for what he did in the ministry, which the President said was documented and for which witnesses, minutes of meetings and a complaint exist, he would demand that DORH be held to account because it would mean that someone was systematically protecting Bano\u017ei\u0107. (Hina)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 called out the Government on Friday for the slow reconstruction of earthquake-affected areas, notably in the Banija region, saying \u201cfrighteningly little\u201d has been done and that it \u201cpains me to see that (the Bosnian Serb entity) has reconstructed more than the Croatian Government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21031,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-21032","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n