Milanović Calls Parliament Session Over Gospić
The extraordinary session will be held on Thursday and Friday, with HDZ saying it will be an opportunity for citizens to hear the truth and for the opposition's lies to be refuted.
The extraordinary session will be held on Thursday and Friday, with HDZ saying it will be an opportunity for citizens to hear the truth and for the opposition's lies to be refuted.
President of the Republic Zoran Milanović has submitted a request for an extraordinary session of Parliament on the waste disposal site in Gospić, and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković responded promptly: the session will be held this week, on Thursday and Friday. In his request, Milanović proposes four agenda items, demanding from the government urgent and permanent remediation of the landfill and continuous monitoring of groundwater and the environment.
Although Jandroković had an eight-day deadline to respond, he scheduled the session in just two days. Furthermore, Milanović demands that the government receive representatives of citizens and initiatives within three days, and that the chief state inspector be appointed immediately or within 15 days at the latest. A solution for Gospić has been awaited for a year and a half since the affair was uncovered.
The Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) has published the results of water analysis in the Lika-Senj County area. In samples collected on August 13, analyses for PFAS compounds showed no presence, i.e., concentrations were below the detection level. Of the total 22 analyzed samples, 21 met the prescribed values. Only one sample, taken from a tap in a private building, was non-compliant due to elevated lead levels.
It is important to note that the analyses show that elevated lead levels are not related to water from the public water supply system. In the water supplied from the covered wellfields and intakes, no elevated lead concentrations were found; rather, this is a problem related to the internal installations of the building. Citizens are advised to regularly flush their household water supply network, especially after prolonged non-use, after which resampling will be conducted.
Minister Alen Ružić, who has family ties to Lika, stated: "I call on my fellow Lika residents and Gospić residents to follow the information, to trust the system, and that everything will be done as soon as possible."
In a statement, Milanović sharply criticized the government's actions so far. "Permanent damage has been done to the environment and human health. The activities of the Government of the Republic of Croatia so far have been neither timely nor adequate given the seriousness of the situation. The Government of the Republic of Croatia and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković have ignored expert findings and downplayed the harm done to people and the environment. It can be concluded that they will not take any urgent measures," the statement reads.
This is the second time in Croatian history that Milanović has requested an extraordinary session of Parliament. The first such case occurred in July 2023, triggered by a strike in the judiciary and the gas affair. At that time, state secretaries provided answers, and neither Milanović nor Plenković were present. That session ended with the rejection of Milanović's conclusions and the adoption of the HDZ majority's conclusions.
When asked whether the president will come to Parliament this time, no response came from Pantovčak.
HDZ political secretary Ante Sanader stated: "We look forward to this extraordinary session because it will be an opportunity to show Croatian citizens the truth. We do hope they won't flee from this session as well; after two escapes, I think opposition MPs should have enough responsibility not to flee from the Parliament session." On Twitter, Sanader added that Milanović had "played a double pass with #Možemo," but that the session would be an opportunity for citizens to "hear the truth once again - to refute the lies deliberately spread by the politicized opposition."
Sanader also noted that yesterday's session of the Parliamentary Committee on Environmental Protection and Nature was used by the left as a "coordinated performance - without any desire to actually help fellow citizens." He pointed out that half an hour after the meeting in Gospić was interrupted, they received notification that the President of the Republic would request the convening of an extraordinary session of Parliament.
Opposition representative Mihael Zmajlović believes that the very fact that Milanović decided to convene the session is sufficient. "I think the very fact that he decided to convene an extraordinary session is enough; it is an opportunity for citizens to hear, and another way to pressure the government to start remediation as soon as possible," said Zmajlović.
Most representative Nikola Grmoja appealed to the ruling majority and the Speaker of Parliament to ensure the presence of representatives of citizens' initiatives. "I appeal to the ruling majority and to Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković to ensure that representatives of the initiative are present at that session, so that it is, in a way, a public hearing," Grmoja said.
Možemo representative Dušica Radojčić called on citizens to watch the extraordinary session. "To see how HDZ will try to obstruct the path to the truth this time," Radojčić said.
