Djapic said that the economy would be the main topic on which his party would focus next year and that the HSP would do all in its power to preserve Croatia's economic sovereignty. He added that the HSP would oppose further privatisation according to the existing model, noting that it would further impoverish the country and deepen the economic crisis.
The party will unveil its own economic strategy in February next year, which has been prepared by prominent Croatian experts educated abroad, Djapic said.
Commenting on this past year, the HSP president said that Croatian foreign policy largely defined home policy, and that a very high price had been paid for the launch of accession talks with the European Union.
Croatia's foreign policy has accepted unconditional cooperation with the Hague war crimes tribunal, compromising the identity of the 1991-1995 Homeland War, while on the economic front the country has unconditionally met the demands set by the International Monetary Fund, which has created problems in the functioning of the government, most evidently in health reform, Djapic said.
Next year will be the most difficult one for the government, because an IMF mission is coming to Croatia in March to verify the implementation of the stand-by arrangement, and the country's credit rating depends on their assessment, he added.
The HSP wants to become a leading centre-right, European-oriented party with a strong sense of national values and identity, and we expect a relative success at the next parliamentary election, Djapic said, adding that his party would closely follow the government's moves in connection with Croatian army generals indicted by the Hague tribunal.
Asked to comment on accusations that he had revealed the names of witnesses in court proceedings relating to alleged war crimes committed in Osijek in the early 1990s, Djapic said he had not revealed a court secret or violated the law. He added that his statements made at a press conference in Osijek were taken out of context and that he had not exerted pressure on the judiciary.
No one can be declared a war criminal without a trial, Djapic said, recalling that various organisations had not responded when a protected witness had levelled a series of accusations against Branimir Glavas, a former member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party from Osijek.
Those who have been unfoundedly accusing Glavas are now looking for an exit strategy by accusing me, the HSP leader said.
Asked to comment on an initiative for the reburial in Croatia of Ante Pavelic, leader of the Croatian Nazi-style Ustasha regime during the Second World War, Djapic said that the issue should be treated as a humanitarian rather than as a political one and as a family matter.