Croatia: Deputy PM quits over video of him shooting from car
January 19, 2025
Croatian Deputy Prime Minister Josip Dabro resigned on Saturday after a video surfaced of him firing a gun out of a moving car.
Dabro was also agriculture minister in the Cabinet of conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.
What do we know about the video?
The video, seemingly taken at night, showed Dabro laughing while shooting a handgun out of an open window.
In his resignation statement, the former minister urged the government to continue its work.
"I am aware that these circumstances create an additional burden for the government and my party," Dabro wrote. "My personal situation should not distract the government and the ministry from their priorities or delay necessary reforms."
In his initial reaction to the video on Friday night, Dabro said it had been filmed several years ago and that he had fired training bullets.
Plenkovic's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) formed a coalition with Dabro's nationalist Homeland Movement (DP) in May 2024.
DP leader Ivan Penava insisted the coalition remained "stable" after the video of Dabro surfaced.
He said the video "was private and was sent to people who [Dabro] thought were his friends."
"At no point did he put anyone's life in danger," Penava said.
Meanwhile, Croatia's government called Dabro's behavior "inappropriate and irresponsible."
HDZ government faces election defeat, scandals
Dabro is the second minister to leave Plenkovic's Cabinet in recent months.
In November, Croatia's prime minister dismissed former Health Minister Vili Beros after he was detained as part of a graft probe.
Last week, the HDZ suffered a defeat in the second round of Croatia's presidential election, with President Zoran Milanovic of the center-left opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) securing another term with around 74% of the vote.
sdi/sms (AFP, dpa)