"The government needs a little more support in its job, not from the opposition, but from various segments of society. We need understanding and not loans or being cut some slack. The situation is tough but far from hopeless," Milanovic said.
He said Syrian chemical weapons would not be transloaded in Croatia but most probably in Italy.
"This job is not dangerous in safety terms and in political terms the world is getting rid of a big evil because of the destruction of substances for the production of chemical weapons in the hands of a dictatorship," he said, adding that this was not a NATO but a UN programme.
"Croatia has one of the longest coastlines in the Mediterranean. This certainly concerns us. We were more aware and more responsible than some states which were very loud when a military intervention in Syria was necessary but now, when a technically relatively undemanding job has to be done, they are scared of their public. I'm glad the Croatian public responded rationally to this," said Milanovic.
He was in the northern Adriatic port of Rijeka to attend en election convention of the SDP's county branch.
Speaking to the press, he said the government was a little too slow, "but we are on the right track."
Speaking of a project he was about to sign in Baku, Milanovic said it was a US$ 1 billion investment. "It's a huge investment that is geopolitically significant because it ensures a gas supply route from the south, so you don't depend on only one supplier. Additional security spread and earnings are important to us."
Milanovic went on to say that there were no problems with Economy Minister Ivan Vrdoljak, who should attract investments. "Our job is to create conditions to attract investments and make investors realise that they are coming to a regulated state, that this is a good place for business, that we are a safe legal environment and that they can count on a predictable legal framework."