World news agencies reported on Wednesday the resignation of the First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, Radimir Čačić, emphasizing that he was an important figure in the government responsible for economic reforms and the third minister to leave the government in ten months in office.
First Deputy Prime Minister Radimir Čačić, responsible for key economic reforms in the country, resigned after being sentenced to prison by a Hungarian court for a traffic accident that resulted in the deaths of two people, according to AFP.
Reuters writes that Čačić announced his resignation at a press conference after returning from Qatar, where he sought to attract investments from that wealthy Persian Gulf nation into the Croatian economy.
The Italian agency ANSA reports that he was a powerful figure in the Croatian government responsible for investments, whom analysts referred to as the “lightning rod” of Prime Minister Zoran Milanović. “More than any other minister, he was criticized for high living costs, reduced public spending, and increased taxes,” the agency states.
Recalling the chronology of the case, the BBC highlights that Čačić had previously pleaded guilty to the 2010 accident, but the appellate court modified the first-instance ruling from June and replaced the conditional prison sentence of 22 months with an unconditional one.
