Commenting on the statement by government spokesman Mladen Pavic that some of the opposition parties were behind the riots during anti-government protests organised through the online social network Facebook, Opacic told a news conference that the spokesman "says only what Jadranka Kosor thinks."

Describing Pavic's statement as "pernicious and malicious", the official of the strongest opposition party called on PM Kosor to stop being silent and either confirm or deny what "her spokesman said".

SDP parliamentarian Daniel Mondekar said that Prime Minister Kosor's statements about "either the European union or protests" were dangerous.

Such statements harm Croatia and her statements cannot be accepted in the EU. The behaviour of her cabinet has contributed to a fall in the support of Croatians for EU membership, Mondekar said, adding that the government became its own end.

Commenting on the performance of the government in the last 18 months since Kosor became premier, Opacic said that the number of employed Croatians kept going down from month to month in that period.

Retail sales have significantly decreased, and the budget gap is nearly 20 percent. In the said period, the government adopted 25 strategies, operational plans, programmes and economy-related laws with none of them being enforced, Opacic said.

The Croatian People's Party (HNS) leader Radimir Cacic said earlier on Tuesday that parliamentary elections should be held before the summer, calling on the government to set an election day in the coming days.

At least 85 percent of the Croatian population are aware that the government is going in the totally wrong direction. Only government members and the Croatian Democratic Union leadership do not want to see it, Cacic said at a news conference in Zagreb.