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Zagreb - Parliament debated for nine and a half hours on Wednesday an opposition motion to give a vote of no confidence in Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman for failing to declare €2.1 million in dividends among his assets, which the government and the ruling majority rejected.
"We will reject the initiative," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at the start of the debate, which began at 5 pm on Wednesday and ended on 2.30 am on Thursday.
I don't feel that I made a big omission and that I should be condemned, Grlić Radman, adding that the omission was technical and an unintentional mistake.
The opposition said that neither Plenković nor Grlić Radman answered why Grlić Radman failed for years to act on the Conflict of Interest Commission's instructions.
Grlić Radman dismissed the opposition's criticisms that despite the Commission's instructions, he failed to update his declaration of assets for four years.
"I made a mistake, not having had the time in four years to do it. We filled out the declaration of assets today," he said, adding that he stands ready to pay the fine the Commission will determine and that he earned the money legally.
Grlić Radman did not declare €2.1 million he had received in dividends as a co-owner of the Agroproteinka company. This came to light amid the African Swine Fever crisis because Agroproteinka is the sole company in Croatia licensed to dispose of dead or euthanised animals.
During the debate, the prime minister told the opposition the government would help the farmers whose pigs were euthanised.