IDS President Loris Peršurić confirmed that the party will not participate in the initiative to vote no confidence in Andrej Plenković's government, reports Glas Istre. Meanwhile, the PM met with the gymnastics federation and received athletes Sara Kolak and Marino Bloudek.
Loris Peršurić, the head of IDS, stated that his party will not support Most's proposal to vote no confidence in Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. This decision came after SDP president Siniša Hajdaš Dončić publicly criticized IDS for not attending the joint opposition conference in Gospić.
Peršurić claims that IDS does not want to be part of actions that are, in his words, primarily aimed at political posturing and scoring points in the political arena. He emphasizes that the party's priorities should be the safety and health of citizens, urgently addressing the illegal landfill issue, and finding those responsible.
The conflict arose after Hajdaš Dončić, commenting on IDS's absence from the opposition initiative in Gospić, asked "what IDS is today, a left-centrist opposition or perhaps it's cozying up with someone else".
IDS responded that his statement that it's more important to topple Plenković than to remediate environmental damage is unacceptable, and accused him of focusing more on bringing down HDZ than on the well-being of citizens.
The conflict at the national level will not, for now, affect the cooperation between SDP and IDS in Pula. Peršurić emphasizes that cooperation at the local level is decided by the Pula branch of IDS, which best understands local political circumstances.
Nevertheless, IDS maintains its stance that the Gospić case should not be reduced solely to the criminal responsibility of individuals. They demand that the responsibility of competent institutions be established, a clear remediation plan with deadlines be made, the results of water, soil, and air analyses be publicly released, and an audit of the waste management system be conducted. If it turns out that those in charge did not react in time, Peršurić believes that political responsibility should also be considered.
On the same day, August 19, 2026, Prime Minister Plenković met with the leadership of the Croatian Gymnastics Federation on the occasion of the European Championships in men's and women's artistic gymnastics in Zagreb. He posted on X: "We are proud that Croatia is hosting as many as 4 European championships, in men's and women's senior and junior artistic gymnastics."
Plenković highlighted that Croatian athletes have won two Olympic silvers, five world medals, and ten senior European medals, with a total of 187 medals at World Cups. He congratulated the Federation on the organization and wished the national team members much success.
He also received top Croatian athletes Sara Kolak and Marino Bloudek on the occasion of winning gold and silver medals at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham in 2026. "Athletics is the queen of sports, and this extraordinary success is a continuation of the great tradition of Croatian athletics," he said.
Sara, ten years after winning gold at the Rio Olympics, claimed the European title in javelin throw, while Marino, with his silver in the 800 meters, achieved a result that will be recorded in the history of Croatian athletics. Plenković extended congratulations to Sara, Marino, their coaches, and the Croatian Athletics Federation.
He also emphasized that the government has increased investment in sports sevenfold, and investment in athletics has increased by 140 percent. Across Croatia, more than 20 athletics tracks have been renovated or built, creating better conditions for the development of sports and new generations of top athletes.
