PM expects statements such as those made by Tajani won't be made again

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic at a cabinet meeting on Thursday once again condemned in the strongest terms a hooligans' assault on three players of Serbian water polo club Red Star in Split over the weekend, saying that such cases are entirely unacceptable and do not help the image of the City of Split or Croatia.

"This was an unpleasant incident. We condemn it in the strongest terms, this is entirely unacceptable. Police took action and the hooligans have been identified and arrested. The government condemns such behaviour in the strongest terms and we expected the police and later the judiciary to resolve these cases which cannot be tolerated and which do not help the image either of the City of Split or Croatia," Plenkovic said at the cabinet meeting,

He also said that reactions from the water polo federation and the office of the Split mayor were appropriate.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said he expected that statements with elements of revisionism such as those made by the European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, and for which he later apologised, following an uproar from Croatia and Slovenia, would never be made again.

EP President Antonio Tajani on Wednesday sent letters of apology to Croatia's President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, as his response to a letter which the Croatian head of state sent to him and a telephone conversation he had with Plenkovic over his speech at a recent commemoration for foibe victims in Basovizza. 

Tajani's speech in which he said, among other things, "Long live Trieste, long live Italian Istria, long live Italian Dalmatia," caused public uproar in Croatia and Slovenia.

"It is not good that such statements which unambiguously have elements of revisionism and territorial claims are even being made," Plenkovic said.

Tajani apologised following reactions from Croatian and Slovenian MEPs, notably those belonging to the European People's Party (EPP).

I believe that the statement Tajani made on Wednesday and the letters he sent have now clarified the context and we expect such statements never to be made again.

Text: Hina

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