Croatia to ‘get tough’ on terror

The Croation prime minister has pledged to mobilise the power of the state to combat terrorists and criminals after a bomb attack that killed a renowned investigative journalist and one of his colleagues.

The bomb exploded outside the building of the Nacional newspaper where the two men worked in central Zagreb. State television showed footage of the wrecked car. The bomb is believed to have been planted underneath it. The death of Ivo Pukanic is the latest in a series of violent incidents in the capital recently which has already led to the sacking of the interior and justice ministers.

Prime Minister Ivo Sanader angrily condemned the assassination. “Croatia will be even more determined and tough in dealing with with organised crime and terror that appears on Croation streets,” he said. “As hard as it may sound, we will not allow Croatia to become another Beirut.”

Croatia’s ability to tackle organised crime and corruption is a key requirement for Croatia’s entry into the EU scheduled for next year. Nacional is an investigative paper that exposes corruption and human rights abuses. Pukanic was the editor-in-chief, and had spoken out about a plot to assassinate him earlier this year