August the 8th, 2021 - While vaccination isn't mandatory, many limits are being gradually placed on those who aren't vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Could Croatian employees who aren't vaccinated ever face being ''let go'' by their employers? Croatian lawyer Antonio Volarevic weighed in on this question.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, due to the continued spread of the novel coronavirus and sometimes poor vaccination coverage, many countries are imposing restrictions on the unvaccinated. Some unvaccinated people are even being fired from their places of work. Namely, in Italy, you absolutely can't enter theatres, museums, gyms, or the insides of cafes and restaurants without being able to show a green pass proving you're vaccinated. According to the US CNN, three unvaccinated employees were fired.

Lawyer Antonio Volarevic revealed for Dnevnik whether there are legal grounds for such moves here in Croatia.

"In Croatia, there's really no legal basis for such repression. There is no law or regulation that would restrict the freedom of movement of citizens in that sense,'' he said.

For example, on CNN, three unvaccinated people were fired. Here in this country, according to lawyer Antonio Volarevic, that is simply not allowed, but in America "it obviously is".

America, he explains, has a strikingly different legal system - a system of precedent. In this country, something must actually be prescribed in advance in order to be sanctioned.

"I say that it's inadmissible because an employer, in order to want to terminate an employment contract for something, must therefore have some justification, a legally valid basis. The fact that the worker wasn't vaccinated cannot be the basis for their dismissal,'' he explained.

If the employer fired an unvaccinated person because they're unvaccinated, then they wouldn't be punished because that isn't prescribed by law. That said, the worker can go to court and then the court can decide whether the dismissal was justified or not. In that case, the employer must return the worker to work and pay them the salaries he would have received if they'd stayed at work, as well as compensation for damages,'' lawyer Antonio Volarevic said.

The employer has no right to request an employee's vaccination information, nor do they have any right to keep records of who has been vaccinated and hasn't been vaccinated,” he stated.

"All of this, creating an atmosphere of fear where people should be afraid they could lose their jobs, that they'll end up getting fired if they aren't vaccinated - it's completely illegal,'' lawyer Antonio Volarevic concluded.

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August the 8th, 2021 - The number of Knin enterprises has increased by almost 30 percent in the last decade alone, which is excellent news for this otherwise often forgotten (at least economically) part of inland Dalmatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, in the ten-year period from 2011 to 2020, the number of Knin enterprises has increased from 76 to 98, marking an increase of 28.9 percent, according to data from the Financial Agency (Fina) presented on the occasion of the recent Victory Day. This celebration is traditionally and historically associated with Knin, where every year on August the 5th, the central celebration takes place.

During this period, the number of employees in Knin also increased, from 653 workers in 2011 to 684 in the previous year, which is a 4.7 percent increase. The total revenues generated by Knin enterprises during the observed period were the highest of all back in 2011, when they amounted to 429.2 million kuna, and the lowest in 2018 with 163.7 million kuna.

Throughout the observed period, Knin enterprises operated positively, with the highest net profit in the amount of 15.8 million kuna in 2020, even when compared to pre-pandemic 2019 when their net profit amounted to 12.1 million kuna, recording significant growth of 30.7 percent.

Compared to the result in the initially observed year, 2011, when the net profit amounted to 9.7 million kuna, the generated net profit in pandemic-dominated 2020 was higher by 63.2 percent for Knin enterprises.

The share of Knin enterprises back in 2020 in the number of companies headquartered in the wider Sibenik-Knin County stood at 3.7 percent, in terms of the number of employees, 5.5 percent, in terms of total revenues 3.4 percent, in terms of total expenses 3.4 percent, in profit periods 4.8 percent and in loss periods - 0.5 percent.

The average monthly net salary calculated for employees of Knin enterprises back in 2020 amounted to 4263 kuna and is 20.2 percent lower than the average monthly net salary calculated for employees of companies based in the wider Sibenik-Knin County, where it was 5342 kuna.

For comparison, the average monthly calculated net salary of employees in enterprises at the level of the whole of Croatia in 2020 amounted to 5,971 kuna and is higher by 40.1 percent than the average monthly net salary calculated of employees working for Knin enterprises, and is 11.8 percent higher than the average net salary of employees of companies based in Sibenik-Knin County.

According to the total revenues recorded back in 2020, the most successful companies in Knin are: Transport beton Lubina with 19 employees and 36.5 million kuna in total revenues and Efficient Powerful Successful with 248 employees and 36.3 million kuna in total revenues.

The company Transport beton Lubina was founded back in 2007 as a small family company, and today it has successfully spread throughout Croatia. It is engaged in the production, transport and delivery of concrete for tourist, residential, business and energy facilities. Efficient Powerful Successful, on the other hand, is engaged in the production of metal structures and their accompanying parts.

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ZAGREB, 7 Aug, 2021 - A Croatian Air Force firefighting plane on Saturday returned to the Zemunik air base near Zadar from Turkey, where it had been helping put out major wildfires in the region of Antalya.

The plane left Croatia on 2 August, with two crews on board.

It performed 82 flights, dropping 438 tonnes of water and consuming 19,205 litres of fuel, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Minister Mario Banožić thanked the Croatian pilots and technicians for performing their tasks professionally, noting that the Croatian Army was always ready to promptly provide assistance, not only in Croatia but abroad as well.

"This mission contributes to the promotion of the Croatian Armed Forces' reputation and capabilities. Our colleagues in Turkey welcomed us warmly and assisted us throughout firefighting operations. They expressed gratitude to the Croatian people and the Croatian Army for their help," he said.

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ZAGREB, 7 Aug, 2021 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said on Saturday the rhetoric used by the president of Serbia and Serbian officials was the reason for a recent physical and verbal attack on Croats in Subotica.

Asked if the attack could be the result of the two countries' policies, Jandroković said the situation in the two countries could not be compared.

"The celebration of Operation Storm in Croatia is dignified. We celebrate our victory in the Homeland War without disparaging anyone. We have a good cooperation with representatives of all ethnic minorities, including the Serbs, and the rhetoric used by Serbia's president and senior officials is probably to blame for some people feeling the urge to physically or verbally threaten members of the Croat people," Jandroković told the N1 broadcaster when asked about an attack on five Croatian nationals in Subotica which local police said was due to a row over a parking space.

The Croat National Council said on Friday that five Croatian nationals were physically and verbally assaulted and their relative was lightly injured when an unidentified man attacked them in Subotica but local police denied it.

Jandroković also said that Serbia should face the truth and accept responsibility for the events of the 1990s.

"That is a precondition for better cooperation. We must all be forward-looking, there is no use in turning to the past," he said.

Speaking of wildfires that have been raging for days in Greece and Turkey, Jandroković called for developing international solidarity.

"We received help from them when the region of Banija was hit by (last year's) earthquake," he said, adding that Croatia was currently able to provide assistance to Greece and Turkey.

Jandroković once again called for compliance with epidemiological restrictions, expressing hope the tourist season would last not only until the end of August but the end of September.

The parliament speaker was today in Imotski, where he attended a ceremony marking 120 years of fire-fighting in the Imotska Krajina region and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Imotski Voluntary Fire Department.

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ZAGREB, 7 Aug, 2021 - A democratic and safe country is recognised by the response to ethnic incidents, the head of the Croat National Council (HNV) in Serbia, Jasna Vojnić, said on Saturday in a comment on an assault on Croatian nationals in Subotica.

The assault occurred early on 2 August, with a man lunging at passengers, including three minors, in a car with Zagreb licence plates, saying he would "slaughter all Ustasha", and attacking a local Croat from Subotica, according to eye-witnesses.

Police arrived at the scene soon and arrested the attacker.

Vojnić said ethnic incidents happened in the best organised countries but that "a developed, democratic and safe country is recognised not by the number of such incidents but by the way it responds to them."

She said that what was problematic in Serbia was the lack of condemnation of ethnically motivated incidents against ethnic Croats by government officials and media turning the victims into the culprits.

The leader of the Democratic Alliance of Vojvodina Croats, Tomislav Žigmanov, said one was again witnessing the competent authorities downplaying incidents, a reference to the Serbian Ministry of the Interior describing the incident as a row over a parking space.

This is yet another convincing reason why Croats in Serbia do not trust institutions that deal with and prosecute incidents, said Žigmanov.

Police dismiss allegations man was injured

Subotica police said that the allegation about the man, identified as Z. B., having been attacked, was not true and that the Croatian nationals in question did not report any physical attack, the subotica.com portal reported.

Soon after the incident was reported, police arrived at the scene and interviewed Z.B., who said that a man had shouted insults at him and grabbed him by the throat due to a misunderstanding over a parking space, but made no mention that his relatives from Croatia were attacked or injured, police said.

Police interviewed six people, members of Z.B.'s family, who "at no moment said that the man had physically attacked them."

Police said they identified and located the assailant, a 63-year-old man, in half an hour. He was interviewed and the case was forwarded to the local prosecutorial authorities.

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ZAGREB, 7 Aug, 2021 - Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) Assistant Director Marija Bubaš has said that the epidemiological situation in Croatia is good but that caution is necessary as the number of new infections has been on the rise.

"Everyone adhering to epidemiological restrictions is contributing to keeping the situation under control, and we cannot relax entirely. Quite the contrary, we must comply with restrictions and get vaccinated as it takes more than one week to start developing immunity in a satisfactory way," Bubaš told Hina on Saturday.

She noted that now was the right time to protect public health, the situation in the tourism sector and the economy.

This particularly refers to the coastline considering that coastal counties have lower vaccination rates, with Dubrovnik-Neretva and Split-Dalmatia counties being the most exposed, with a large number of tourists staying there. In some destinations, the number of visitors exceeds the number of local residents by five times.

"We cannot be certain that tourists who have entered Croatia with a negative test were not in a period of incubation when they got tested. Such people can develop the disease in Croatia and spread it further. We need to comply with epidemiological restrictions because the situation may escalate. We have to be aware that regardless of the measures taken, we are part of a larger environment where the infection is still spreading," Bubaš said.

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ZAGREB, 7 Aug, 2021 - Five applications for president of the Supreme Court have arrived at the State Judicial Council in a third round of the selection process, Večernji List daily said on Saturday.

They have been submitted by Zagreb Commercial Court judge Radovan Dobronić, Supreme Court judge Marin Mrčela, Zagreb attorney Šime Savić, High Criminal Court judge Lana Peto Kujundžić, and Požega master of law Daniel Mejer, who does not meet the requirements, the paper said.

President Zoran Milanović, who recommends a candidate to parliament, said before the deadline for the submission of applications expired that Dobronić was his candidate and that they had agreed that he should apply for the post.

Savić applied in the previous two rounds and Peto Kujundžić did so in the second, but neither received a positive opinion either from the Supreme Court General Convention or the parliamentary Judiciary Committee.

Applications in the third round could be submitted by midnight on Friday, but only on Monday will it be known if there are more candidates as applications could also be sent by post.

Although Milanović did not know that disciplinary action was initiated against Dobronić last October--- the president said that would not affect his decision to recommend him to parliament.

Under the State Judicial Council Act, a judge against whom disciplinary action has been taken cannot be appointed to another court from one to four years of the decision on the punishment becoming final. If elected Supreme Court president by parliament, the State Judicial Council would have to appoint Dobronić a Supreme Court judge as well.

A court president's term in office ends on the day the decision on disciplinary action against them becomes final. But regulations on the Supreme Court president do not state that disciplinary action is an obstacle to their appointment or a reason for their dismissal.

Disciplinary action against Dobronić was demanded in October 2020 and the question is whether it should be taken now, before parliament votes on his candidacy, and how that would be interpreted if he were punished, Večenji List said.

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ZAGREB, 7 Aug, 2021 - Five Croatian citizens have been physically and verbally attacked and a cousin of theirs lightly injured by an unknown man in Subotica, northern Serbia, the Croatian National Council (HNV) said on Friday, but local police denied it.

The incident occurred on 2 August when the man physically attacked the passengers in a car with Zagreb licence plates, saying he would "slaughter all Ustasha" and swearing at them, said Darko Baštovanović, an official of the HNV, the Croatian minority's umbrella organisation in Serbia.

Asked by the passengers' cousin, Z. B., why he was doing that, the man grabbed him by the throat and threw him to the ground, lightly injuring him. Z. B. then called the police, which arrived on the scene but did not give him a report on the attack, Baštovanović said.

Subotica police, however, said in a statement the claims that Z. B. was injured were incorrect and that the Croatians did not report being physically attacked, the suboica.com website said.

Police said Z. B. told them "that a man insulted and grabbed him by the throat over a parking disagreement, but did not mention that his cousins from Croatia had been injured or physically assaulted."

Officers spoke to six of Z. B.'s family members who "did not complain about being physically attacked by that man."

Police said they identified the perpetrator, a 63-year-old man of Subotica, in half an hour, interviewing him and sending the case to the prosecutors.

According to suboica.com, the police called "on all local subjects" to contact them "for correct and verified information, instead of spreading incorrect and unverified information in public, because in that way they are harming the good inter-ethnic relations that are traditionally nurtured in Subotica."

The HNV said it stuck by its claims despite the police statement, condemning "the brutal attack on ethnic grounds" and saying "it is yet another in a series of attacks against the Croatian community in Serbia, which we believe have also been caused by the continuous negative coverage on Croats in Serbian media."

The HNV said the latest case showed in what conditions the Croatian community lived and to what it was exposed, adding that it was especially worried that the attack occurred in Subotica, a multiethnic city and the cultural centre of the Croatian people and Croatian institutions in Serbia.

Baštovanović said Serbian authorities were obliged to respond appropriately because this time Croatian citizens were attacked also, adding that taking appropriate action would prevent inter-ethnic incidents and the further deterioration of Croatian-Serbian relations.

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