Croatia set for fresh elections

The government in Croatia has collapsed after just five months in office. Following the conservative HDZ's withdrawal of its support for non-affiliated Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković the parliament was dissolved, paving the way for fresh elections. Commentators are also relieved by the news that ex-deputy prime minister Tomislav Karamarko resigned as leader of the HDZ on Tuesday.

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Jutarnji list (HR) /

Orbánisation of Croatia stopped

Croatia can breathe a sigh of relief now that the government has bowed out, writes the daily paper Jutarnji list:

“This dishonourable resignation by the very person who tried to implement Orbán's power model in Croatia could change his country's political landscape. Karamarko's political demise could spell the end for the policy that has split the nation into two camps [on the left and right] for years. His policies, defined by far-right extremism, nationalist hysteria and regression, were disastrous for the country. Instead of the usual civil war rhetoric this time round, someone who knows how to unite rather than divide will win the upcoming parliamentary election.”

Jutarnji list (HR) /

This government was worthless

Croatian author Ante Tomić sheds no tears for the failed government and takes stock of the situation in Jutarnji list:

“The state has been decapitated, but it doesn't matter because the head was insignificant. If it had a brain, we saw no sign of it. It was agony from the start. A group of individuals without clear goals or visions was simply piled together. The only one who perhaps had any kind of vision was the minister of culture Zlatko Hasanbegović, but people were afraid of his right-wing extremist views. In the modern world it is the psychiatrists who deal with such visions. This was a profoundly conservative government that wanted to ban abortion and has now itself been aborted. Fortunately it has done less damage than expected.”

Delo (SI) /

Croatia the victim of political experiments

The Croatians can expect the current instability to continue, the Slovenian daily Delo fears:

“Croatia is in a state of political chaos in which the sole aim is to win votes. Who will gain and who won't from the government's fall remains to be seen. But many observers in our neighbour to the south expect the months of experimenting and of a non-functional state to have major negative consequences. … The citizens are participating in an experiment conducted by the political elites. But even the elites don't really know what they're doing here. Will the failed Orešković experiment be followed by another political experiment? Probably.”