Sanja Radolović, a member of parliament for the Croatian Social Democratic Party (SDP), challenged Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) over the disposal of waste from Gospić in Koromačna, as well as the Government's decision to include the Codeco Net Zero project on the list of strategic investment projects. The debate featured mutual accusations, political jabs and interventions by the Speaker of the Sabor, Gordan Jandroković.
Radolović urged the Prime Minister to visit Istria on his way to Poreč, where the Croatian Tourism Days are being held, to speak with citizens. She told him to stop by Raša, Labin, Kršan, Pićan and Nedešćina. She noted that the Government adopted a decision on 10 September regarding the recovery of waste from the area of the former Velebit Food and Agricultural Combine in Gospić, after which some of the waste ended up in Istria. She highlighted that the Assembly of the Istria County sent a conclusion to the Government on 21 September, which was supported by all political options except the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). She asserted that trucks full of waste were brought under the cover of night, first to Pazin, and then the waste was burned in Koromačna.
Radolović singled out the Codeco Net Zero project, which the Government included on the list of strategic investment projects, valued at 300 million euros. She noted that Minister of Economy Ante Šušnjar signed an agreement with the management of Holcim on 27 December 2025. She emphasised that the Raša Municipal Council and the Labin City Council oppose the project, unanimously, and announced a session of the Assembly of the Istria County where a stance on the issue was expected. She also referred to the Istrian County President Boris Miletić, reminding that he was an HDZ candidate during the second round of local elections and that he had since opposed the project. She asked the Prime Minister whether he would remove the project from the list of strategic projects and who was responsible for the first truck that went to Istria.
Plenković stated that he found Radolović likeable but disputed her claims about the amount of waste delivered to Istria. He said there was only 300 tonnes of waste and that approximately 140 tonnes were burned in the Holcim cement plant in Koromačna. He emphasised that it was non-hazardous waste and explained that the Government reacted to the waste problem in Gospić. He said that individuals who acted unlawfully are responsible for the problem in Gospić and will be held accountable in criminal proceedings. He mentioned 19 natural and seven legal persons covered by the proceedings. He asserted that the waste had to be evacuated and that this is being done in several phases, and that the non-hazardous waste that was in bags was resolved in Koromačna, at Holcim, and in Našice, at the Nexe cement plant.
Plenković asserted that everyone is alive and well and that nothing has happened to anyone, rejecting claims of endangering the health of the population. He said that the air, water and soil in the Gospić area are safe, that the air quality in Gospić is like in Zavižan – clean, that the water in the public water supply system is healthy to drink and that the land is healthy for agriculture and all smallholder farmers and agricultural producers in Lika. He accused political opponents of causing economic damage to Gospić and local producers by spreading a false narrative about threats to health, air, water and soil.
Radolović emphasised that Plenković had avoided the key topic she had raised. She replied that he is a great rhetorician, one of the better ones in Croatian politics, and that perhaps the reason for his sympathy towards her is that she is a blonde. She pointed out that Plenković did not spend a second in his response on the Government's strategic investment project Codeco Net Zero. She told him that he knows well that it is now a topic, and that he is trying to turn it into a non-topic, adding that, according to her, even the president of the Istrian HDZ has not yet familiarised himself with the project.
