Croatian president slams PM Plenkovic as ‘liar and faker’

10 months ago 40

Est. 2min

21-02-2024 (updated: 22-02-2024 )

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News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Milanović became president as a candidate of the Social Democrats in 2019 but has since embraced a brand of blunt nationalist populism that targets political opponents but also the EU. [EPA-EFE/MARTIAL TREZZINI]

Croatian President Zoran Milanović launched his strongest invective to date against conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Tuesday, calling him a “liar and a political faker who deceives Croatian citizens”.

Milanović became president as a candidate of the Social Democrats in 2019 but has since embraced a brand of blunt nationalist populism that targets political opponents but also the EU.

In a long statement prompted by the recent appointment of Judge Ivan Turudić as the new Attorney General, upon the prime minister’s proposal, Milanović pulled no punches against his main political rival.

” With ‘Operation Turudić’, [Plenković] wants to conceal or erase all traces of corruption, crime, and cronyism that could lead to the former or current officials of his party and government,” the statement said.

The government replied with an equally long statement saying that Milanović is a “notorious liar who contaminates the public space with lies and defamation in an attempt to hide from the questions he needs to answer”.

Milanović also lashed out against proposed changes to the penal code, dubbed ‘Lex AP’, under which publishing media leaks from investigations would be treated as a crime, subject to a prison sentence of up to three years.

“With the repressive law Lex AP, Andrej Plenković gives the attorney general a stick with which to put fear in people.”

The proposed legal changes, which are still in parliament, have been denounced by rights activists, judges, and journalists as an attack on the freedom of the media.

Before taking over the conservative ruling HDZ party, Plenković had been a lawmaker in the European Parliament, and Milanović said he continued to put the Brussels agenda over Croatia’s interests.

“His national interests no longer matter as soon as he crosses the border, then he runs into the arms of Ursula von der Leyen so he can proudly wear the label of her errand boy,” the statement said.

Political pundits have speculated that Plenković may be eyeing a top job in the EU institutions following the European elections in June, but he had never confirmed such rumours.

(Zoran Radosavljević | Euractiv.com)