The President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 said on Friday that nothing had been done to solve the housing problem for Croatian soldiers, but that the Minister of Defence Mario Bano\u017ei\u0107 did make sure that his own housing problem is solved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a ceremony celebrating the 29th<\/sup> anniversary of the foundation of the Honorary and Protection Battalion and \u201cSaint Valentine\u201d Military Chaplaincy Day, President Milanovi\u0107 said that nothing had changed in view of meeting the army\u2019s needs, assessing this as a \u201cbig nothing\u201d and recalling that two years ago he gave his consent to the Government\u2019s housing plan for the soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing came of it, that was two years ago. It is a problem in the army, for people who travel, who are poorly paid, who are leaving. This jinx (Bano\u017ei\u0107) shelved that, but he remembered to tend to his needs in the meantime,\u201d said the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that the minister sought the opinion of the Commission for Conflict of Interest in order to pay for \u201cthat flat in Gunduli\u0107eva that he furnished nicely with teddy bears,\u201d making reference to the state-owned apartment that Bano\u017ei\u0107 granted to himself, for which he was fined 7000 kunas by the Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The President again warned that the Croatian Army also needs ammunition, which is difficult to obtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He again also commented on the fact that the Honorary and Protection Battalion, whose task is to protect the Commander in Chief, is still without a commander after Bano\u017ei\u0107 \u201ccriminally\u201d retired Colonel Elvis Bur\u010dul. He said that in the last year or more, he occasionally approves appointments following the minister\u2019s consent, but that a number of positions remain unfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe hopes that I will occasionally agree to an appointment that suits him. He will give his consent for it, but an entire stack of appointments and proposals of the Chief of the General Staff is sitting in the drawer. If that is not greed, thievery and abuse, then I don\u2019t know what is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commenting on a ban on turbo-folk concerts in Pula and Osijek, the President said that he does not like that music but would not ban anyone from listening to it. Venue owners are free in operating them if they don\u2019t jeopardise public interest or fundamental freedoms, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe also had the Thompson concert in Pula ten or more years ago, and some disputed that as well. I wouldn\u2019t ban most things,\u201d the President said, adding that he does not like the culture of exclusion and violence on social media. \u201cI said what I think about turbo-folk music \u2013 it should be suppressed with every legal means, but I would let them sing there. They have an audience. Half the HDZ (ruling party) listens to that,\u201d he said. (HINA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 said on Friday that nothing had been done to solve the housing problem for Croatian soldiers, but that the Minister of Defence Mario Bano\u017ei\u0107 did make sure that his own housing problem is solved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22050,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-22052","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n