Gov't says criminal complaint over Glasnovic statement entirely unfounded

The government on Tuesday dismissed as entirely unfounded a criminal complaint filed by the Free Croatia (SH) party against Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, independent MP Zeljko Glasnovic, War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved and Foreign Ministry state secretary Zdravka Busic, claiming it was based on a lack of understanding and knowledge of the government's programme goals.

The government said that a statement signed with Glasnovic, which SH views as an example of political corruption, was in the domain of legitimate and usual talks and that it concerned topics of importance to Glasnovic's political activity in parliament as a representative of the diaspora.

Most of the topics from that statement are contained in the government's 2016-20 programme and confirm that existing measures are being implemented, the government said.

Glasnovic made five demands in the statement signed by him, Plenkovic, Medved, and Busic - the payment of pension arrears to members of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Croat Defence Council (HVO), the urgent adoption of a law on war veterans, an urgent parliamentary plenary on Croats in the diaspora and Bosnia, the updating of a list of all Croats outside Croatia, and the expediting of citizenship procedures for them.

The government said the adoption of a law on war veterans and their families was included in this year's activity plan and that the bill was being finalised.

As for the payment of pension arrears to HVO members, the government recalled that a decision it adopted last October stipulated that money obtained from pension refunds based on social security agreements with former Yugoslav states would be used to pay those arrears, beginning this month.

The government said its programme clearly defined a policy for the recognition of emigrants, and that it supported the initiative for a parliamentary plenary on the status of the diaspora in order to discuss the measures needed for its integration, including the expediting of procedures necessary for obtaining Croatian citizenship and the updating of a list of all Croats living abroad.

The government recalled that when the prime minister visited Mostar, Bosnia last month, he agreed to a joint session of the two countries' governments due to be held in June.

Bearing in mind the importance of investments for Croatia's economy, Croatian emigrants will be included in economic activities through an action plan coordinated with the state administration and diplomatic and consular offices.

The government also said it was working on solving the issue of double taxation of foreign pensions with the countries with which Croatia did not have an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation.

The government concluded by dismissing as entirely unfounded the claims that the statement signed with Glasnovic constituted bribery or any other crime, including a possible violation of the Fiscal Accountability Act.

Text: Hina

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