Zoran Milanović

Zoran Milanović (born 30 October 1966) is a Croatian politician serving as President of Croatia since 19 February 2020. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was Prime Minister from 2011 to 2016 and president of the Social Democratic Party from 2007 to 2016.

Zoran Milanović in 2011

Quotes

• To defend the constitution, I will fight against thieves and all that I have said in the campaign. I haven’t promise miracles. I’ll do what I promised.
  • "Croatian President Elect Zoran Milanović Gives First TV Interview" in Total Croatia News (17 January 2020)

• You can expect constructive cooperation, and not destructive behavior. When I gather people, who are worthy and who I consider to be the best, it won’t be to lock horns with the government. It is easy to be resourceful in the position of the presidency every day. My big advantage is that I know what it looks like on the other side. It’s a lot more difficult.
  • "Croatian President Elect Zoran Milanović Gives First TV Interview" in Total Croatia News (17 January 2020)

• We, as a small country and a small economy, contribute little or nothing to climate change and global warming.
  • "Croatian President Elect Zoran Milanović Gives First TV Interview" in Total Croatia News (17 January 2020)

• We don't view Greece as a delinquent. The crisis there is a warning symbol for a path that we should not take.
  • "'Germany Is a Role Model for Us'" in Speigel International (17 September 2012)

• We Croatians are suffering from an overdose of history during the past century. Of course we still have some nationalism. But the feelings are slowly cooling down.
  • "'Germany Is a Role Model for Us'" in Speigel International (17 September 2012)

• I don’t believe in cuts, I believe in rational restructuring. Massive layoffs also lead to a contraction in consumption and that’s something you don’t need.
  • "Croatia Premier Touts Mild Keynesian Policy Amid EU Entry" in Bloomberg (27 June 2013)

• I do not intend to be a corrective, but rather a constructive factor in areas of direct competence or co-competence of the President of the Republic, and in general. In my view, this arises from the spirit of our Constitution. I will be committed, above all, to those elements of defence and national security that open the possibility for making headway, both in terms of professional achievements and education, as well as in the transparency of these important and extremely sensitive systems.
  • "Inaugural Speech" (18 February 2020)

• Violence, poverty and hunger are once again on the rise. Our post-pandemic recovery will be even more hard pressed in upending the world’s uneven economic development. Devastating natural disasters, especially due to severe weather patterns, are increasingly more difficult to deal with. And as our best scientific minds tell us, we can no longer afford to ignore how climate change is making natural hazards worse. Migration continues to rise, further fuelling discontent in its wake. All along, populists and disinformation campaigns, blatantly or maliciously ignoring factual accounts, can unnervingly shake people’s confidence in public authorities, in science and in the media. But we cannot, we must not give in.
  • "Speech at the 76th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations" (21 September 2021)

• And one more thing about the Croats in World War II. To go to war as a Croat in 1941 and 1942 was an act of incredible bravery and adventure, something that is difficult to describe in words, something that has no graphic form. Croats weren’t persecuted in the way Serbs and Jews were.
  • "Address at the Antifascist Struggle Day commemoration in Brezovica Memorial Park" (22 June 2021)

• Croatia had a long, difficult, complicated path. We are different and we are special, although every parent likes to think and tell their children that they are special and that they are different, while most are in fact ordinary like almost all of us. We are a different and special country. We are the only country that had to go through a war after 1990 (…) and had to fight for what to others had come easy. That’s why we are different and that difference is also reflected in the fact that we are sometimes misunderstood and hurt, but we don’t care. We, you especially, know that our path was right, just, and that we were guided by the fight for our state, for our historical right, which all peoples have.
  • "Speech on the occasion of Croatian Armed Forces Day, Croatian Army Day and the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Croatian National Guard" (27 May 2021)

• We are a European state, we are getting better in public affairs and we should do even better and make use of every euro of European money allocated to us, every single euro. That must be our goal. Of course, not every goal can always be met in every war, in every operation, in every human struggle and endeavour. But our goals should be set high.
  • "Speech on the Occasion of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day, Day of Croatian Defenders and the 25th Anniversary of the Military-Police Operation Storm" (5 August 2020)

• [Slava Ukraini - Heroiam Slava] This is the chant of the most radical chauvinists from Western Ukraine who collaborated with Nazis, who killed hundreds of thousands of Poles, Jews, and anyone else they got their hands on.
  • Quoted in Croatian president Milanović compares 'Slava Ukraini' salute to 'Sieg Heil' (1 June 2023)