Prime Minister Andrej Plenković sacked two government ministers on Thursday, including the one in charge of EU funds, saying the changes were appropriate and necessary.
Construction Minister Ivan Paladina will be replaced by the head of the ruling HDZ party caucus, veteran Branko Bačić.
Paladina has been widely criticised for failing to even initiate reconstruction of the Petrinja region in central Croatia, damaged by a devastating earthquake in December 2020, although the EU has provided emergency funding of almost €700 million from its Solidarity Fund.
The deadline for using the funds has been extended until June 2023.
Plenković said Bačić was one of his closest allies “and a man with the most extensive experience for this key priority, which is the reconstruction after the earthquake”.
Nataša Tramišak, in charge of EU funding and regional development, will be succeeded by the state secretary in her ministry, Šime Erlić.
Tramišak’s predecessor, Gabrijela Žalac, was indicted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in December for “trading in influence and the abuse of office and authority”. Žalac and three other persons were arrested earlier last year as part of an operation conducted by the EPPO.
Local media had largely anticipated the changes, which have to be approved by parliament, in which the HDZ coalition has a majority.
(Zoran Radosavljević | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
