The President rightly demanded accountability for the poisoning of Lika with hazardous waste, but his criticism selectively bypassed the Chief State Attorney and the Mayor of Gospić, who is politically close to him.
President of the Republic Zoran Milanović has weighed in on the case of illegal hazardous waste disposal in Gospić, demanding accountability from some political and institutional actors. Although his reaction to the poisoning of Lika was met with approval, Teleskop.hr's analysis raises the question of why the President's criticism was selective and why certain key figures were spared.
Milanović pressured the government of Andrej Plenković and called out former Chief State Inspector Andrija Mikulić. However, as the analysis notes, if full accountability is being sought, it is legitimate to ask Chief State Attorney Ivan Turudić why the investigation did not encompass a wider circle of individuals whose names are linked to the entire case.
Particularly notable is the case of Paško Dodić, who is not among the suspects in the current investigation, even though his name appears as one of the central figures in the scandalous process. According to media reports, it was Dodić who connected a person with the surname Šincek and Andrija Mikulić, with whom he allegedly socialized frequently.
Teleskop's analysis also raises questions about Darko Milinović, the Mayor of Gospić. Milinović assumed office on June 23, 2024, and according to the investigation timeline, waste disposal continued for several months after that. Although he was not in the city's top position for most of the disposal period, Milinović was not politically anonymous, he led the regional party LiPO and has been one of the most influential political figures in Lika for decades.
Given that this involves tens of thousands of tons of waste and logistics measured at approximately 1,500 truckloads, the question arises as to what local political actors knew and why the alarm was not raised earlier. In recent years, Milinović has been politically close to President Milanović, which further fuels questions about the selectivity in calling out those responsible.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković announced on his Twitter profile on August 9, 2026, that the Croatian Government is changing its methodology and will now respond to fuel prices on a weekly basis instead of biweekly. He announced that the prices of all five energy products would be lower: Eurosuper by 6 euro cents per liter, Eurodiesel by 4, blue diesel by 3, and gas in tanks and bottles by 8 euro cents.
"As for fuel, we have good news. After receiving updated data this morning, we decided to change the methodology, and the Croatian Government will now respond on a weekly basis instead of biweekly," Plenković wrote.
In conclusion, the poisoning of Lika and Gospić, as stated in the analysis, is not a field for selective finger-pointing and scoring political points. If accountability is sought, it must be demanded from everyone, from the Government and state institutions, through the DORH (State Attorney's Office), all the way to local political structures, regardless of political proximity or affiliation.
