The leaders of four pensioners' parties on Thursday signed an agreement of cooperation which, as they said, is the first step toward uniting into a single party in an effort to avoid votes being dispersed and ensure a stronger impact on improving pensioners' rights.

The Croatian Pensioners’ Party (HSU), Pensioners Together Block (BUZ), Pensioners of Slavonia and Baranja (USB) and the Democratic Pensioners’ Party (DSU) agreed on mutual support in all activities aimed at improving the status of pensioners.

HSU leader Silvano Hrelja said that the pensioner community was too fragmented and that that needed to be changed through cooperation on projects.

He recalled that three months ago he had sent an invitation to anyone wishing to discuss cooperation in resolving the problems facing pensioners and the possibility of forming a single party.

BUZ leader Milivoj Spika said that today was the start of changes on the political scene ahead of the next parliamentary election.

Asked whether the united pensioners’ parties would compete in the parliamentary election on their own or in a coalition with some other party, Hrelja said that that depended on pensioners themselves and their support. He added that the pensioner camp had to remain in parliament because without it, pensioners’ allowances would be equal to 33% of the average wage.