An agreement on lasting political cooperation at national level between the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Croatian Party of Rights (HSP) Dr Ante Starcevic was signed in Vukovar on Tuesday by the two parties' respective leaders, Tomislav Karamarko and Ruza Tomasic.
Under the agreement, the two parties will work together on issues relating to the development and prosperity of the country and will take part in elections for the European Parliament and the Croatian Parliament together in a coalition while in local elections they will do the same "wherever possible".
Karamako said it was high time for "the state-building parties to join together in an effort to make Croatia better and more just."
"We will not allow any of the Croatian values created in the 1990s to be downplayed and sidelined in favour of the socialist values that are now being imposed on us," Karamarko said after the signing ceremony.
Tomasic said that based on the similarities of their platforms the HDZ and the HSP Dr Ante Starcevic were capable of "creating new values on Croatia's political scene."
"Last elections taught us that not everyone who said they were right wing were indeed so. In addition, we thought that the (ruling) Kukuriku coalition would do something, but they didn't," Tomasic said while speaking of the reasons for cooperation with the HDZ.
Both Karamarko and Tomasic said that the 1991-1995 Homeland War was the foundation of the Croatian state and that both parties guarded and protected the values stemming from it.
When asked for a comment on differences between the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Croatian People's Party (HNS) over property tax, Karamarko said that it was evident right after last elections that the Kukuriku coalition "is not a coalition but an interest group".
Commenting on the latest statement by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic regarding the acquittal of two Croatian generals by the Hague war crimes tribunal, Karamarko said that it did not take long for Nikolic "to show his true face," recalling that Nikolic had been proclaimed a Chetnik leader a while ago.
When asked to comment on the opposition by some branches of the HSP Dr Ante Starcevic to cooperation with the HDZ, Tomasic said that the decision had not been made by her but by the party's presidency, adding that all of the party's branches should abide by the agreement.
