"Five years ago we introduced the principle of subsidiarity in the HDZ, which means that we leave to party organisations in the field to decide with which party they will form a coalition," Sanader told Croatian reporters covering the third European Union summit in Warsaw.
"Whatever my colleagues in the field decide I will accept, because I will know that they have assessed what is the best for the given area," he added.
Sanader said that, unfortunately, no other political party in Croatia had accepted the principle of subsidiarity, which he described as "the most modern and democratic principle in contemporary political practice in Europe".