Croatia President Criticised for Keeping US Trip 'Confidential'

The head of the Croatian Journalists' Association, Sasa Lekovic, accused Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovuic of "avoiding giving citizens information", after her office said that all documents about her trip to Washington in January were "confidential".

"This story about the trip of the President to the US was full of secret spin and mystification from the start, which clearly serves to avoid giving citizens information that they have the right to obtain," he told BIRN.

The news site Index reported on Wednesday that the President's Office had declared all documentation on the trip confidential and therefore inadmissible to the public.

But Lekovic said declaring information about the trip "confidential" for security reasons was "irresponsible behaviour".

The President's week-long trip to Washington was the subject of controversy in the media, which accused her office of being non-transparent about important information on who she met, what topics were discussed and details about the costs.

Index passed on the news of confidentiality issue after the President's office refused to give them information on the trip's costs.

This meant that if Index published any information on the trip from leaked documentation, it could be prosecuted.

Index submitted requests for information on the trip from January onwards. At one point the President's Office claimed that there was no written protocol of the trip.

A request for information from Index journalist Ilko Cimic was rejected with the explanation that Index's numerous requests had "prevented the normal functioning of the Office of the President", claiming it had been forced to assign many officials to work on their requests.

Index then reported the President to...

Continue reading on: