Government spokesman Zlatko Mehun on Tuesday rejected criticisms from the non-governmental organisation GONG about the lack of transparency in government work and its closed sessions.
ZAGREB, March 10 (Hina) – Government spokesman Zlatko Mehun on Tuesday rejected criticisms from the non-governmental organisation GONG about the lack of transparency in government work and its closed sessions.
“Absolutely nothing that concerns government work is cloaked with a veil of secrecy,” Mehun told reporters in Zagreb.
He said the Croatian government followed the practice of most European countries to hold open and closed sessions, adding that decisions taken at closed sessions were transparently announced in press releases after such sessions.
All decisions subject to publication in the Official Gazette, including decisions made at closed sessions, are published there, Mehun said, noting that decisions classified as official or military secrets are treated as such and are not published in the Official Gazette.
He also said that government decisions were released on its website.
Commenting on GONG’s criticism about the lack of transparency in allocating funds from the budget reserves, Mehun said he could see nothing secret in last year’s allocations. “Calculations were made down to the last penny and that information was published.”
Mehun invited GONG and other civil society organisations to contact the government public relations office in order to improve communication between them.