President Milanović: I told the Prime Minister in Knin that I was going to Albania

“The Office will submit information, they are responsible for the procedure and I had no part in it. The Commission must communicate exclusively with my Office. I am confident that the Office will do everything according to law and common sense. A lot of common sense got lost somewhere along the way,” said President Zoran Milanović, responding to journalists’ questions about additional queries by the Conflict of Interest Commission in connection with his visit to Albania. The President took questions from journalists after meeting with representatives of the Alliance of Tenants’ Associations.

When asked whether he had talked with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in the meantime, the President of the Republic said: “He was probably offended because I was drawing some parallels – and you encouraged me to do so – with a trip to America by my predecessor. You asked me, so I had to comment on that, as well as on the political party get-together in Helsinki, because I know what took place there. When I was Prime Minister I could have brought with me on the Government aircraft a bunch of ministers to the European Socialist conference, but I didn’t. I would always meet some Prime Minister and if that bothers him, then I apologise. I personally told Prime Minister Plenković in Knin, in front of ten witnesses, that I was going to Albania. Therefore, the visit was official and the only private business was in the wardrobe.”