Vesna Pusić has been urging Milanović for days to abandon ‘lex Perković’

Although Prime Minister Zoran Milanović has been defending ‘lex Perković’ for days despite possible sanctions from the European Commission and insists that the amendments to the law will only come into effect on July 15, 2014, the HNS, according to unofficial statements from a high-ranking party source, will not support such a formulated law.

Instead, as reported by Večernji list, the HNS insists that the amendments to the law, specifically the abolition of the time provision under which Croatia does not extradite suspects for crimes committed on the territory of EU member states before August 2002, come into effect immediately as requested by the European Commission.

– Vesna Pusić has been doing everything behind the scenes for days to persuade Zoran Milanović to abandon ‘lex Perković’, or to save Croatia from sanctions – claims a source from the HNS. If the bill, according to which the amendments come into effect only next summer, is sent to the Government on Thursday, as announced by Justice Minister Miljenić and Prime Minister Milanović, the HNS ministers would oppose it, claims a source from Večernjak.

The very fact that this law was removed from the agenda of the Government meeting on Thursday indicates that there is clearly no consensus within the coalition on it. Although the Government can send ‘lex Perković’ to the Parliament without the support of HNS ministers, the law cannot pass in Parliament without their votes.

– If such a law, with a one-year delay for the amendments, comes to Parliament, the HNS will not support it but will have an amendment requesting that the amendments come into effect immediately – claims a source from the HNS, who emphasizes that the HNS is a stable partner of the SDP and that it will not jeopardize the existence of the Kukuriku coalition.