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ZAGREB, Croatia (LifeSiteNews) — Croatian President Zoran Milanovic hammered the media Monday after a reporter asked why the vaccination rate in Croatia is not as high as in other European Union countries.

“I don’t care. We’re vaccinated enough and everyone knows that,” President Zoran Milanovic said. “We will not go more than 50 percent, let them fence us with wire.”

As of September 19, Croatia has an overall “fully vaccinated” rate of 40.9 percent, well below the European Union’s 71.7 percent.

Despite the “low” vaccination rate, Croatia is only reporting 3,465 cases bi-weekly per million people, compared with the heavily vaccinated Israel reporting a staggering 12,575 cases per million during the same time period.

Further, Israel has rolled out a booster shot for the public, making their “doses administered per 100 people” figure a whopping 167, while Croatia’s is less than half that, at 82 doses per 100 people.

This means that proportionally, Israel has administered twice as many doses as Croatia, but is reporting 3.6 times as many cases.

“I start every day with CNN and those few channels, and I wonder if I’m normal or are they crazy,” Milanovic said. “They spread panic, they [have been doing this] from the beginning. They are not the only ones, but there is simply no absolute certainty, there is no life without risk, without the possibility of getting sick.”

Continuing to express his frustration, Milanovic said there is “simply no chance” Croatia’s vaccination rate is “endangering” anyone, because all the other countries are heavily vaccinated, and therefore have no reason to fear unvaccinated Croatians.

“People get sick from a thousand other more serious things, and while that’s happening, we’ve been talking about COVID-19 for a year and a half,” said the president. “Okay, [one] year. I understand. I justify. I was for it. Since the New Year, I have only listened [to] nonsense.”

The president’s recent statements seem to contradict some actions of the country, which last month announced a 9-month shelf life for the vaccine passport used to enter Croatia.

In August, Croatia and Austria said they are now requiring a negative COVID test by anyone whose vaccine passport shows that their last vaccine was administered more than 270 days ago, suggesting that the efficacy of the vaccines wane over time, and no longer fulfil the requirements of the passport.

In Croatia, the president is the head of state, but the day-to-day actions of the government are under the purview of the parliament and the prime minister.

For this reason, despite the president’s bold statements, Croatia still has the vaccine passport and indoor mask mandate in effect, until at least September 30.