President denies links to suspect in text messages probe

President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović is denying allegations published in the weekly Nacional that the prime suspect in a high-profile criminal case had worked on her presidential campaign.

Nacional alleges that Franjo Varga, a former police IT specialist, had worked on the President's 2014 campaign. Varga is under investigation for allegedly creating fake text messages used to apply pressure on judges and powerful politicians. His case also has links to the intelligence services and HDZ Deputy President Milijan Brkić. Nacional connects Varga to the President's defense and security adviser Vlado Galić, claiming he brought the computer specialist on board to the HDZ’s campaign. The president denies the magazine's allegations.

“As far as I know this is not true. Mr. Glaić has told me that he had been in contact with Varga on two occasions during my campaign, but it was not related to the campaign. During that time there was a lot of trolling and hate-speech online. We did not ask for any services to be performed nor did we create any of the trolling,” she told reporters in Munich, where she is attending an international conference.

Nikola Grmoja of Most says all of this implicates the HDZ.

“Kolinda Grabar Kitarović was the HDZ's candidate. If anyone hired Mr. Varga, it was the HDZ,” Grmoja argues.

SDP MP Peđa Grbin blames the president for failing to properly address the Varga case, particularly the implications of the leaks from the intelligence services. He says both Galić and HDZ Deputy President Milijan Brkić should step down because of their proximity to the case.

"Their involvement in Croatian politics right now is toxic, to put it mildly,” he says.

Lovro Kuščević, the HDZ's Political Secretary, insists his party is committed to getting to the bottom of the text messages case as soon as possible.