Croatian Premier Zoran Milanovic on Friday said in Brussels that he never specifically mentioned any individual or party that was bad-mouthing Croatia abroad and reiterated that he personally never did any such thing.
I know who said what at joint European parliamentary committee meetings and I am aware what games are being played and what the motives behind them are and I believe these motives aren't the best. No one can go abroad and bad-mouth their own country without arguments. I have never done any such thing, he said in response to accusations by MP Davor Stier of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).
On Friday, Stier accused Premier Milanovic in the Sabor of falsely accusing the HDZ of conspiring against Croatia's accession to the EU.
Milanovic continued by saying that it was not right to speak of political purges in the police and the depletion of administrative capacities.
He added that the parliamentary Domestic Policy and National Security Committee had unanimously supported the candidate for the head of Croatia's Security and Intelligence Agency.
After strict selection procedures were conducted, some people have been appointed that were chiefs of staff of the current HDZ president. These people weren't degraded but promoted so there is no chance of political purges going on. I know very well who has been making such accusations abroad, Milanovic said in Brussels, where he was attending an EU summit.
He also responded to accusations by the HDZ as to the dissolution of the national committee monitoring EU negotiations, stating that everyone had agreed to such a move and was not sure why the committee should be reinstated. "Are we going to negotiate again?" he asked.
