Zdravko Tomac, leader of the Croatian Social Democrats (HSD), called the coalition "a third path for Croatia", saying that "there is no difference between the government and the opposition" in the country.
Tomac said that the coalition had a pro-European platform, but that it was "against the dictate that requires Croatia to accept forgeries that criminalise heroes of the Homeland War and to renounce both the Homeland War and the system of values on which this country is founded".
Croatian True Revival (HIP) leader Miroslav Tudjman added that the coalition was also "a third path in relation to the previous and the current government in Croatia".
Tudjman, the elder son of the late president Tudjman, described the European Union as "a cartel of different interests", saying that Croatia's efforts to join the EU on its own did not suit the interests of some EU members and that they would like Croatia to enter the bloc "in a package with the so-called Western Balkans".
Commenting on the case of fugitive General Ante Gotovina, Tudjman said: "The fact that Gotovina has not been arrested is no longer a problem. The problem is that Croatia has failed to break the image of General Gotovina as a hero of the Homeland War." "This means that there will always be some objections as long as that is the interest of EU members," he added.
Local elections are scheduled to take place on May 15.