He was responding to the interviewer's remark that credit rating agencies had expected the government to be socially more rigorous. "We weren't because we estimated that it would have been harmful for Croatia, because drastic austerity would have completely stopped the wheel which is slow anyway," he said.
Recapitulating the government's first year in office, journalist Drazen Ciglenecki said it was currently in conflict with the Church, entrepreneurs and the unions, that there were serious tensions in the ruling coalition between the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) and that relations between the SDP and the Croatian People's Party (HNS) were undefined.
The PM, however, did not agree, conceding "only to certain misunderstandings with some Church dignitaries, but I don't think that's our fault."
He said the government had clearly announced what it planned to do about artificial insemination and health education and that it had won the voters' confidence for that. He reiterated that this was not a world view issue, that everything was being done for the sake of children and health, and that Education Minister Zeljko Jovanovic and the Education Agency enjoyed his full support.
Commenting on an economic analyst's statement that only when the people took to the streets would Croatians know that structural reforms had begun, Milanovic said this was not necessarily true.
The journalist remarked that if the people did not protest, it meant that no significant changes had been made, to which the PM said that citizens certainly could not protest against land books being put in order or a more transparent system of strategic investments.
If structural reforms mean stripping the Labour Act and workers' rights completely bare, this system is already relatively liberal, there is no room for major changes and it would not make Croatia more competitive, said Milanovic.
He said some thought the country's competitiveness should be increased by devaluing the national currency, but this would be disastrous. Competitiveness can be increased only by increasing efficiency, productivity and innovations, and not through monetary tricks as was done 20 years ago, he said.
The interviewer observed that credit rating agencies were in no doubt and that austerity was the only solution for them, to which the PM said they were interested in only a few categories. He said the unions had a different point of view and that if everything was that simple, states could be run on autopilot. The goal is clear but the road not so much, he added.
Milanovic went on to say that citizens were right in thinking that it was the government's duty to tell them what it planned to do and in what time, but it was also important to tell them what was realistic and what was not.
The interviewer said the recent downgrade of Croatia's credit rating was actually in the government's favour because it showed that the government was not that socially insensitive and that much bigger cutbacks, layoffs and salary and pension cuts were expected of it. The PM said some could insinuate that the government and the rating agency in question were in a conspiracy, but this is not the case.
The interviewer asked why former First Deputy PM "Radimir Cacic has turned against the government," to which Milanovic replied that he had not noticed that and that Cacic was in a difficult situation personally and should be shown understanding.
Speaking of local elections in Istria next year, Milanovic said he would not participate in them and did not intend to quarrel with anyone. He added that he was sorry about the conflict within the IDS but that his SDP had not incited it and that he "will have no part in it." He said that if the SDP formed a coalition with IDS official Damir Kajin, "it will be a coalition for Istria."
Commenting on the Labour Party, Milanovic said it was the result of the times, "a party of crisis and protest" but "they have no concept, just protest" and were therefore doomed to political irrelevance. He added that if there must be a protest party, he was "glad that it isn't the extreme right wing, but more left-leaning and civilised."