"I travelled to Verona at the invitation of the organiser, and as to why I travelled aboard a government plane - you certainly don't expect a prime minister to travel by bike," Sanader said.
He dismissed accusations that in Verona he had discussed with Pliva pharmaceutical company CEO Zeljko Covic and HDZ member Miomir Zuzul the sale of Pliva to the US company Barr Pharmaceuticals.
Answering why he did not attend the June 25 Statehood Day ceremony in Vukovar, Sanader said that the event in Vukovar was not a central one and that the state leadership had marked Statehood Day two days earlier in Zagreb.
Sanader was responding to Social Democrat Nenad Stazic who wanted to know why on the most important state holiday Sanader was in Verona instead of in Vukovar and if he had travelled to Verona privately or officially. Stazic also requested that Sanader show bills for his stay in Verona.
"If you travelled there privately, why did you use a government plane, and if you went officially, why did you pay your bills on your own?" Stazic asked.
Asked by Social Democrat Sime Lucin if the government would establish uniform criteria for the demolition of unlawfully built houses, because not all such houses were being demolished, Sanader said the government would try to legalise every land plot and house that was possible to legalise, but that it would demolish all others.