Možemo coordinator Sandra Benčić accused the HDZ government of deregulating waste imports, enabling Croatia to become the EU's dumping ground, and demanded urgent remediation of the illegal landfill in Gospić.
Sandra Benčić, coordinator of the Možemo party, said at a press conference ahead of the Croatian Parliament's emergency session that the case of the illegal hazardous waste landfill in Gospić requires more than the dismissal of lower-ranking officials; Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, whom she considers the architect of the system that enabled it, must take responsibility.
"It's not enough for some official to leave or for one company to be shut down; the one who created this system must go. That is Andrej Plenković, the Prime Minister who built this system," Benčić stated.
Benčić emphasized that the urgent remediation of the illegal landfill is the most critical item the Parliament must vote on at the session scheduled for Thursday, August 20, 2026. She called for immediate definition of remediation steps and measures to prevent further leaching of contaminated water into groundwater, without lengthy public procurement procedures.
"Further contamination of groundwater and soil in Gospić, and consequently of people, with extremely hazardous forever chemicals, shows that Croatia simply needs to do what is necessary," Benčić warned. She added that future generations will pay for this pollution with their lives and health if immediate action is not taken.
She noted that both EU regulations and Croatian public procurement laws provide exceptions for emergency situations. "This is precisely such a case. However, the government is likely afraid that if it does this, it will be penalized by the European Court of Justice because emergency measures must be implemented urgently," she said. She added that "we simply need to do what needs to be done, even if we have to pay a fine."
According to her, the government of Andrej Plenković and the HDZ knew about the illegal landfill as early as 2023, when the State Inspectorate began conducting oversight. In 2024, the inspectorate requested the suspension of waste disposal and cross-border imports by the company linked to the Gospić incident.
Benčić stressed that Gospić is not an isolated incident but one of a thousand indicators that the system allows Croatia to become the EU's and beyond's waste dumping ground. "Such a system was directly established by the HDZ government," she said.
She also highlighted that, together with other parties "from the center to the left," they have adopted a declaration demanding that urgent remediation measures begin immediately and without delay.
She identified amendments to regulations implemented between 2019 and 2021 as a key problem. Tomislav Ćorić, who then served as Minister of Environment, eliminated the requirement for importers to notify the State Inspectorate of a shipment's arrival three days in advance, making it harder for inspection services, customs, and the State Attorney's Office to track the actual flow of waste.
She noted that the E-ONTO system was not operational for four years, and its functionality depends on information provided by importers themselves. Imports of notified waste have increased by more than 2,000 percent since 2016, when HDZ returned to power, Benčić claims.
"If you asked Minister Vučković whether she knows where each waste shipment entering the Republic of Croatia ultimately ends up, she would have to say, if she didn't lie, that she doesn't know. And she doesn't know because this government has closed its own eyes to avoid seeing it," she stated.
Benčić linked responsibility to the work of institutions tasked with customs, inspection, and criminal oversight. She recalled that the former head of the Customs Administration, who served until 2021, was finally convicted in the Rimac affair for influence peddling, and that even the new director cannot keep customs oversight under control.
She also criticized the appointment of former Chief State Inspector Andrija Mikulić, arrested in November 2025, whom she claims was directly Plenković's man. "HDZ tailors the laws. They appoint chief state attorneys, always their own people," Benčić said.
She stated that Možemo will present information on waste management in Croatia over the past decade at the Parliament session and will call for a revision of the Waste Management Act and rigorous enforcement of the standards from the new EU regulation.
