Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic has said that the practice of covering losses in the agricultural sector by funds from the state budget must be ended, as it is well-known how much money there is and that there is a boundary when it comes to state subsidies.
During his interview with the national television (HTV) on late Monday evening, the premier admitted that that agricultural production was specific and exposed to risks.
Only those who are competitive will survive, the premier said while commenting on 10-day-long tractor blockades of roads staged by disgruntled farmers in the interior of Croatia.
He said that the European Union deemed agricultural production to be very important and that Croatian farmers could count on subsidies coming from the EU financial envelope for the period until 2020.
He dismissed the protesting farmers' accusations that Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina had non-transparently allocated state aid to in the agricultural sector so far.
As for plans for a possible ratification of the agreement which the late presidents, Franjo Tudjman of Croatia and Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina signed regarding the border demarcation, Milanovic said that this was a good treaty dealing with the demarcation of 1,000 kilometres of the border which is now a part of the EU's outer border.
The Croatian premier noted that there were several parties on the Bosnian side that had not yet harmonised their views on the matter, which he found to be a problem.
The premier said he was satisfied with the functioning of the governing coalition and added that all the members were cooperating well.
As for media reports that a junior partner - the Croatian People's Party (HNS) -- was seeking other partners for a new coalition for the next parliamentary elections, the premier said that the newspaper article on this topic, compiled on the basis of statements from an unnamed source, was insulting for the HNS leader Vesna Pusic who is Deputy Prime Minister.
Earlier on Monday, the HNS said it remained a stable partner in the current ruling four-member coalition, which also includes the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) and the Croatian Pensioners' Party (HSU). The HNS refuted in the strongest terms the media allegations and stressed that it would not communicate with its coalition partners through the media. The media also alleges that the HNS is planning to set up a coalition with the IDS and possibly with the nonparliamentary Croatian Social and Democratic Party (HSLS) as a counterbalance to the SDP and the strongest opposition Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) for the next elections.
Milanovic said that his cooperation with IDS cabinet members was excellent and that he had had misunderstanding only with the IDS leader Ivan Jakovcic.
