– The government will have 18 members and four vice-presidents. These are Tomo Medved who is also the Minister of Croatian Veterans, Davor Božinović who will also be the Minister of the Interior, Vice-President and Minister of Finance Zdravko Marić, and Boris Milošević who will be responsible for social activities, human and minority rights as Vice-President of the government – said Plenković to reporters after the session of the Presidency and National Council of the HDZ.
He also reported that Mario Banožić will be the Minister of Defense, Ivan Malenica the Minister of Justice and Administration, Marija Vučković the Minister of Agriculture, Oleg Butković the Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Tomislav Ćorić the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Nataša Tramišak the Minister of Regional Development and European Funds, and Josip Aladrović the Minister of Labor and Pension System as well as Family and Social Policy. The Minister of Tourism and Sports will be Nikolina Brnjac, Vili Beroš the Minister of Health, Nina Obuljen Koržinek the Minister of Culture and Media, and the Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs, while the Minister of Construction, Spatial Planning and State Property will be Darko Horvat.
Plenković also reported that they unanimously proposed Gordan Jandroković as the President of the Croatian Parliament, and for Vice-Presidents, Academician Željko Reiner and Ante Sanader. Branko Bačić was proposed as the President of the HDZ Club in the Croatian Parliament, along with three deputies – Branka Juričev Martinčev, Miro Totgergeli, and Josip Borić.
He noted that the government program is being finalized, which he expects to present in the Croatian Parliament on Thursday.
When asked what was decisive in the selection of new ministers, Plenković recalled that they aimed to reduce the number of ministries from 20 to 16, thanking former ministers, who will now be representatives in the Croatian Parliament, for their previous contributions – Vesna Bedeković, Dražen Bošnjaković, Gari Cappelli, and Marko Pavić.
– They will take on responsible duties in the Croatian Parliament – he said.
Banožić will justify the trust given
When asked what qualities Banožić has for the new Minister of Defense, Plenković said that his choice was based on a younger generation person because he believes that someone who has not participated in the Homeland War due to their age can also deal with the military and armed forces, and someone who has experience at the government level will quickly ‘catch the threads’ of what needs to continue at the Ministry of Defense. He believes we were fortunate to have two generals of the victorious Croatian Army – Damir Krstičević and Tomo Medved, who did an excellent job in the first government.
– Now for this cycle, we want it to be someone else with a different profile. I am confident that Banožić will justify the trust given – said Plenković.
He also announced the first session of the new government for Friday, during which the Law on the Reconstruction of the City of Zagreb will be sent for the first reading in the Croatian Parliament.
– As I promised, this will be the first legislative proposal of the new government. There will be several other legislative proposals related to the financing of the reconstruction of the City of Zagreb from the consequences of the earthquake and some international agreements – he stated.
Plenković believes it would be better for this law to go through two parliamentary readings.
– Our approach is thorough, systematic, inclusive, and medium-term. This is a medium-term process of the reconstruction of Zagreb – he said and assessed that by the end of August, this legislative proposal could be in the second reading.
He also mentioned that his talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen resulted in us receiving around 89 million euros from the European Solidarity Fund, and when our entire request is fully processed, it will be more than 500 million euros.
Plenković reiterated that he will reduce the number of officials in regional and local self-government and will pursue functional mergers of municipalities. He believes we currently have too many local officials, and Minister Malenica will inform the public about the details.
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