President: The Most Important Thing for Citizens is How They Will Survive

President of the Republic Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović stated on Friday that ideological issues should not be primary on the political scene, but rather existential, life issues of citizens, and regarding the procurement of new combat aircraft, she said that a decision has not yet been made and that she is ready to convene a meeting of the Defense Council “as soon as the Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister agree”.

In the framework of the Croatian Radio program ‘With the President Outside the Protocol’, Grabar-Kitarović said that the very content of the recommendations of the Council for Facing the Consequences of the Rule of Undemocratic Regimes shows the complexity of ideological issues, but she believes that these issues should remain in the professional domain and not be one of the primary issues on the political scene.

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– I responsibly assert, from my meetings with citizens, that what matters most to them is how they will survive, not just today and tomorrow, but what their life will be like in Croatia, how to ensure their existence here, how to ensure the resolution of the question of all questions – the demographic issue, because without people there is no state, how to ensure a Croatian future. And in that, I do not say that ideological issues are not important, however, they should be in the domain of the expert public, and we as politicians must deal with the economy, opening new jobs, attracting investments, social issues, blocked accounts of citizens, and all other issues that truly burden our society and citizens, asserted the Croatian president.

Life Issues of Citizens

She believes that ideological issues in recent years have not only taken precious time for discussion on existential issues but have also led to even greater and deeper divisions in society which, she added, she is trying to overcome with her work. “I am trying to erase ideological divisions and for all of us to focus on what is important. And that is the life issues of citizens”.

She adds that perhaps instead of conducting public opinion polls on the ratings of politicians, there should be a survey on life issues “to provide some guideline for how we as politicians and statesmen should proceed”.

Combat Aircraft

When asked whether a decision has already been made on whom Croatia will buy combat aircraft from, given media reports that it will almost certainly be Israel, the president said that she is ready to convene a meeting of the Defense Council “as soon as the relevant minister and the prime minister agree”.

The president emphasizes that it is necessary to go into the renewal of the aircraft fleet, about which there is political consensus, in order to protect Croatian airspace with safe aircraft.

– As you know, there are four offers. As far as I know, as I have been informed, a final decision has not yet been made. I am here, waiting. I am ready to convene a meeting of the Defense Council whenever the relevant minister and the Prime Minister agree, so we can discuss this issue. The final decision, of course, lies with the Government which will sign an agreement with the government of the country from which it decides to procure the aircraft, said Grabar-Kitarović.

She adds that, of course, she understands all the complexity of that decision, because it is not just about financial resources, but also about strategic issues – “both investments and our future strategic partners”.

– But, I expect that we will receive a quality proposal for a solution based on an open, transparent, and uncorrupted process, where experts will primarily give their word and suggest which offer is the best, she said.

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Regarding the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, she believes that a step forward has been made in relations with Serbia and assessed that Vučić, in good faith, provided information about three individuals who were later found to have already been identified.

– As president, but above all as a mother, I am humanly disappointed because I truly wanted that visit to result in resolving the fate of at least one family of missing persons. However, I will not be discouraged by this, we continue this entire process, said the president.

She also added that she appointed Ivica Vrkić as her special commissioner for missing persons from the Homeland War in order to, along with the Commission for Missing Persons, give “political momentum to a process that has stagnated for years and tried through political dialogue with the Serbian president and the Serbian side to obtain the necessary data for resolving the fate of the missing”.

– I would not underestimate President Vučić’s visit to Zagreb at all, as steps forward have been achieved that I did not even expect would be realized, she asserted.

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She added that the Minister of Science and Education Blaženka Divjak has already met with her Serbian counterpart and, among other things, agreed to resolve the issue of the Croatian language lectorate in Serbia, and at the end of the month, Minister of Justice Dražen Bošnjaković is also expected to meet with his Serbian colleague.

– The issue of jurisdiction is an extremely important issue that needs to be resolved as soon as possible, said the president.