Milanović: Croatia is drowning in corruption, this is worse than Ivo Sanader, he stole alone

(Patria) - Croatian President Zoran Milanović commented on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's refusal to cooperate, calling it a violation of the Constitution.

He reiterated that Croatia is drowning in corruption, and that the situation is worse than during the time of former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, who, as he said, stole alone.

- When someone tells me that they are breaking off cooperation with the President of the Republic, who was democratically elected, that is a violation of the Constitution. I am surprised that this person is still the Prime Minister. And that someone in the Parliament supports it. Let them look in the mirror. Plenković is violating the Constitution - Milanović told reporters in Požega.

He stated that for smaller things, people were under investigation, in Remetinec, only, he noted, a sudden death stopped the administration of justice.

He also called out Plenković's government spokesperson Marko Milić, son of journalist Goran Milić, for whom he said he got the position "after communion through the paternal line".

He came, Milanović said, from Paris, committed a criminal offense, and nothing happened to him.

- To get an apartment in the center of Zagreb. Milić, a boy who arranges things in a state-owned company for some guy who doesn't have the conditions for Yutel Bata. The guy intervened in employment. There is evidence for that. These are Plenković's first and close associates. These are criminal offenses, this is prison - Milanović stated, as reported by Croatian media.

He also emphasized that the case is the same with the Minister of Defense Mario Banožić, for whom he said that he had a clear intention to harm the state and protect the tenants.

He particularly objected to Plenković mentioning his family and asked who among them got anything through connections.

- And he hired his brother-in-law as the head of the airport in Dubrovnik. People, you are drowning in corruption, this is worse than (former Prime Minister Ivo) Sanader. He stole alone - said Milanović, adding that Plenković thinks he is going to Brussels, but, he says, they will arrest him there too.