"Our current rating is an interest-free loan which the citizens have given us for a short term period. We must pay it back. It is not a loan for spending or boasting but for investments now," Milanovic told the SDP main committee, which convened its first session after the parliamentary elections which were won by the SDP and its three coalition partners -- the Croatian People's Party (HNS), the Croatian Pensioners' Party (HSU) and the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS).

Milanovic said that the SDP and its partners -- the HNS, the HSU and the IDS -- had done an excellent job at the parliamentary polls, and expressed satisfaction with their agreement with ethnic minorities' representatives in the parliament about their support to the ruling coalition.

"However, there is no time for euphoria," he said.

We are in the same plane, somebody is in the cockpit -- the president and the government--, some are in economy class and some in business class. But all of us share the same destiny and the same goal: to help the plane reach its destination safely, Milanovic said.

As for the 22 January referendum in which the Croatians voted for the country's accession to the European Union, the premier said that nothing would be the same in the future.

"We will not be passive onlookers. There we will struggle for Croatia's interests. This an area in which the SDP will play an active role," the SDP chief said.

"The admission to the EU means higher living and working standards. Things will change significantly in five years' time," he added.

Milanovic announce intra-party elections in the SDP with the election of the party leadership, including the main committee in the next six months.