From December 23, 2011, until March 25, 2015[2] she was the Minister of Culture in the centre left Government of Zoran Milanović. She was the second female Minister of Culture in Croatia (after Ljerka Mintas-Hodak). Zlatar-Violić resigned in March 2015 after an internal audit found financial irregularities with herself and other officials not repaying cash taken out for business trips in a timely manner.[3]
In June 2013, while she was minister of culture, Zlatar-Violić was fined 15,000 Croatian kuna for an undeclared conflict of interest due to the Ministry of Culture financing the magazine Zarez which was published by the firm Druga strana of which she was a part owner.[4] On 2 February 2016, the Administrative Court of Croatia confirmed a verdict that Zlatar-Violić was guilty of conflict of interest when she awarded the web portal Autograf a grant of 70,000 Croatian kuna in 2014 and ordered her to pay 6,000 Croatian kuna to the state.[5]
