Social Democratic Party president Pedja Grbin said on Saturday the government's latest relaxation of COVID restrictions showed its "total lack of ideas, blundering and ignorance."

Speaking to the press in the Istrian resort of Porec, Grbin said the restrictions were again being relaxed “without any criteria.”

“Since October, not just we from the opposition but scientists too have been warning the government that there must be certain criteria because we all have to know on what a decision on the relaxation is being made. There have to be certain numbers or indicators.”

Grbin called on the government to make the criteria known and asked why casinos were allowed to reopen while restaurants were not.

He said the owners of establishments which were temporarily closed or whose turnover had drastically dropped due to the COVID crisis should be compensated “from the state budget.”

“And all citizens will bear the brunt also through their tax revenues so that this compensation can be paid, only so that what little of the economy has survived in the past 30 years in Croatia can function. If we destroy everything now because we can’t set aside money to compensate entrepreneurs, there will be no economy in Croatia and poverty will rule.”

Grbin reiterated that it was “totally unacceptable” that some people were using their position so that they or their loved ones were vaccinated against COVID, saying this “shows that this government is below any expectations.”

He also said that the SDP would nominate its candidate for Zagreb mayor in several days and that Joško Klisović was shortlisted because he “reflects what I want the new SDP to be, which is expertise, honesty, knowledge and experience. He’s the man Zagreb needs and the profile Croatia needs.”