Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Monday announced the names of ministers in his new, 18-member cabinet.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the leadership of his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party, Plenkovic said: “We have received absolute support at the party meeting. The government programme is being finalised and will be presented soon. We have downsized the number of ministries, and four of our colleagues from the previous Cabinet are going to Parliament.”

The programme is expected to be presented to the parliament on Thursday.

Tomo Medved will continue as the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs, Davor Bozinovic remains the Minister of the Interior and Zdravko Maric stays in charge of the Ministry of Finance.

Nikolina Brnjac will be the Minister of Tourism and Sport, Natasa Tramisak will be in charge of Regional Development and European Funds, while Radovan Fuchs will be the Minister of Science and Education.

Tomislav Coric will be the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Darko Horvat will be responsible for Construction, Physical Planning and State Assets, Mario Banozic will serve as the Minister of Defence, Ivan Malenica will be the Minister of Public Administration and Justice, while Josip Aladrovic will head the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy.

Nina Korzinek Obuljen continues as the Minister of Culture and Media, Gordan Grlic Radman remains the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vili Beros stays in charge of the Ministry of Health, Marija Vuckovic continues as the Minister of Agriculture, and Oleg Butkovic as the Minister of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure.

The Cabinet will have 18 members and four deputy prime ministers – Tomo Medved, Davor Bozinovic, Zdravko Maric, and Boris Milosevic of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) who will represent the ethnic minorities and will be in charge of human rights.