German media: Gambler Zoran is leading Croatia to the right

(Patria) - German media have joined in following events in Zagreb and are trying to explain the complex political relations at the top of the EU's youngest member to their readers.

The daily Frankfurter Rundschau (FR) already calls Croatian President Zoran Milanović in the first sentence "by virtue of his position the highest brute in Croatia" and lists the epithets the Croatian president showered on the Constitutional Court judges after the decision to ban him from running in the parliamentary elections.

It also quotes Milanović's messages to citizens to resist the rule of the HDZ.

"I call on all citizens of this country to unite against the gangster HDZ party," FR quotes the Croatian president, as reported by Deutsche Welle.

The author states that the head of the HDZ and Croatian Prime Minister did not remain silent either.

"Citizens need to be saved, but not from us, but from those who are orchestrating a coup d'état," FR quotes Andrej Plenković.

The newspaper simultaneously describes the politically tense situation in Croatia.

"A quarrel in Zagreb is guaranteed. With countless corruption scandals and attempts to increasingly bring investigative bodies under his control, Plenković has plunged the country on the Adriatic into a considerable judicial crisis in recent months and recently even quarreled with the highest-ranking corruption hunter by position, Laura Kövesi," writes FR.

It concludes that the maneuver of "gambler Zoran" has already succeeded if the increase in the SDP's popularity is taken into account.

The correspondent for the left-liberal Berlin daily Tageszeitung (TAZ) from the Balkans, Erich Rathfelder, accuses Milanović of potentially using his prime ministerial ambitions to turn the country even further to the right.

"Many were surprised that Milanović wants to become prime minister again. However, he has big plans - to steer Croatia to the right. In recent years, he has transformed from a social democrat into a right-wing hardliner. He wants to push the traditional social democratic party SDP to the extreme right. This does not please even former sympathizers from the ranks of European leftists," writes the TAZ author.

He states that Milanović has shocked his European partners by repeatedly siding with Putin, opposing Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership, and questioning further aid to Ukraine.

"Whether SDP members and voters will follow Milanović's maneuver and themselves turn so far to the right, like him, is more than questionable," writes Rathfelder.

He further states that Plenković warned that Milanović's candidacy could drive Croatia "into the arms of Russia" and towards other autocrats.

"Plenković, who has tried everything to improve Croatia's reputation within the EU, is certainly given headaches by Milanović's close contacts with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán," concludes the TAZ author.