NEW PRIME MINISTER ON BUDGET

Milanović: Yes, we are in for a diet

Zoran Milanović, President of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), recieved from President Ivo Josipović the mandate to form Croatia's new government. His first statement was that the new government has a huge task of pulling Croatia out of the crisis. Milanovic said that his government expects public support, will fight for it and explain its every move, because of the fact  that "we are in for a diet".

"We must overcome the crisis and the only way to achieve it is through economic growth," said Milanović at the news conference after a 30-minute closed-door meeting with other leader of the Kukuriku coalition - Radimir Čačić of the Croatian People's Party, Ivan Jakovčić of the Istrian Democratic Party and Silvano Hrelja of the Croatian Pensioners Party.

 

Drafting the budget

 

The deadline for drafting the budget for 2012 is the end of March, announced Milanović:
- Our task is to do it even sooner. That is the first important message that we must send to Croatians and international financial institutions. The crisis is here, it is deep, the budget must be both social and development-oriented, and it will be difficult to achieve both.

 

Milanovic said that his government expected public support, adding that it is a fact that "we are in for a diet".

 

"We saw before the outbreak of the crisis and shortly afterwards that growth projections from international institutions had been very unrealistic. Reality proved them wrong. They should be taken seriously and with respect, but not as something absolute. Croatia must put under control its public spending, make savings, but also be careful not to cut the live tissue and there where there's room for growth," Milanovic said about the World Bank unfavourable projections for Croatia.

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Journalists asked Milanović which country he would visit first as Prime Minister. Milanovic said that his first contacts could therefore be with countries where incentives and investments could come from, because the government's first task is to create conditions for economic growth and employment.

 

New government's orientation to foreign trade

 

"This government will to a large extent be oriented to foreign trade," said Milanović.

 

The government is also aware that its regional environment is still not stable in terms of security and economy, Milanović said, adding that it would treat as a national interest the position of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he said was still not a functioning state 16 years after the Dayton peace agreement was signed.

 

As for Serbia, Milanovic said the government would focus on the interests of business and trade, and he also mentioned Slovenia in the context of regional cooperation.

 

Asked to comment on the fact that the European Commission had still not presented lists of experts on international law who would make up an arbitral tribunal to decide on the Croatian-Slovenian border dispute, Milanovic said that as an MP he had warned about the parts of the agreement that were not adequately defined, such as criteria and deadlines for the selection of arbitrators.

 

There is still no such list and two years have passed since the signing of the agreement on resolving the border dispute through international arbitration, Milanović said.

 

"I see that our colleagues in Slovenia, too, are interested in this issue. I believe that it is important to stick from the start to the provisions of the agreement so that we could accept the final ruling as civilised countries," he said.

A referendum on EU entry is awaiting Croatia as well, Milanovic said, announcing a proactive government policy aimed at motivating as many citizens as possible to go to the referendum and support Croatia's EU entry. "Everything has an alternative, including the EU, but there is no alternative to Croatia, and this issue concerns Croatian interests. That is how we see the referendum and that's how we will try to present it to citizens and voters."