The presidents of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the opposition Democratic Centre (DC) party, Jadranka Kosor and Vesna Skare-Ozbolt respectively, on Saturday signed an agreement on political cooperation between the two parties at the state level.
Kosor said it was not a coalition agreement, but one about cooperation between the two parties for the greater good, adding that the DC supported government goals, such as the fight against corruption, strengthening the economy and joining the European Union.
"We have said countless times that we will bring together all forces in Croatia that can help in achieving those goals," Kosor said.
Skare-Ozbolt described the agreement as the beginning of a new relationship between the two parties. She said that the Croatian state had begun a process of "political decontamination" and that Prime Minister Kosor had shown that she had "the political guts" to fight corruption in politics.
Skare-Ozbolt said that during the term of former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader the fight against corruption had been put on the back burner, while Kosor put it back at the top of the agenda.
Although the agreement governs cooperation between the two parties at the state level, Kosor and Skare-Ozbolt expressed the hope that it would also have a positive effect on local party organisations.
