Croatia sets early general elections for September

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic on Friday announced that her country is going for early parliamentary elections in September.

Speaking after consulting with parliament group representatives, Kolinda said a majority favor dissolving the assembly and holding early polls.

The move comes after technocrat Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic’s government lost a no-confidence vote in parliament on Thursday.

The run-up to the vote began after the opposition in parliament requested a vote to oust Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Karamarko – HDZ party leader and currently senior partner in the governing coalition – after a state commission found a conflict of interest due to his relations with a lobbyist for Hungarian state oil company MOL.

Karamarko did resign on Wednesday, but also demanded that Oreskovic and Petrov step down as well.

But the HDZ then requested a vote to dismiss Oreskovdic, resulting in Thursday’s no-confidence vote.

Oreskovic, a Canadian-Croatian businessman, is an independent member of parliament.

Croatia, the newest member of European Union, entered the EU in 2013 as the 28th member state.