PM Says Croatia to Respond "Clearly and Resolutely" if Russia Attacks Ukraine
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that Croatia would react "clearly and resolutely" if Russia attacked Ukraine.
Russia has caused concern in Kyiv and the West by amassing troops and equipment near the border with Ukraine and there are fears that it is preparing for an attack. Moscow denies this and says it has the right to deploy its troops on its territory any way it wants.
Speaking in the Croatian parliament, Plenković said that the situation in the east of Ukraine was very worrying and the tensest since 2014 and conflicts between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels.
"Croatia does not want the situation to escalate and it will react clearly and resolutely to prevent any instability," the PM said without being more specific.
An EU member, Croatia is also a member of NATO which has warned Moscow a number of times that it will face serious consequences if it attacks Ukraine. On several occasions, Zagreb has offered Ukrainian authorities its experience in the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube region, which in the 1990s was under occupation by ethnic Serbs.
Submitting his annual report on meetings of the Council of the EU to the parliament, Plenković said that Croatia would raise the issue of people gone missing in the 1991-95 war as part of Serbia's EU accession talks.
"When the relevant policy chapters are put on the agenda, we will put the topic in the context of Serbia's further progress," he said.
He, added, however, that "it is not wise for a new member in a forum like the EU to block those who act slightly differently than we think they should."
Speaking of the most important topics of the Council of the EU meetings, Plenković cited the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the response to energy price increases and EU enlargement to the east, including the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He said that in 2021 Croatia made major progress on the path to membership of the Schengen area of passport-free travel and the euro area, noting that this time next year Croatians should be paying in euros in shops.
Number of New COVID-19 Cases Stands at 16,017
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - A total of 5,590 new COVID-19 infections have been identified in the last 24 hours using rapid antigen tests, while PCR tests have identified 10,427 infections, which puts the total number of infected persons at 16,017.
Rapid antigen tests were used in the last 24 hours to test 22,344 persons, and 25% of the tests came back positive, officials at the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Data from the national coronavirus crisis management team show that on Wednesday Croatia saw a record high number of new infections, 10,427, as well as 45 COVID-related deaths.
Previously the highest number of infections, identified with PCR tests, was reported last Wednesday, 9,894.
Croatia currently has 56,208 active cases of the disease, including 1,796 hospitalised patients, of whom 204 are on ventilators.
PM Comments on HNB Insider Trading during Question Time in Parliament
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday that the insider trading case involving Croatian National Bank (HNB) employees had nothing to do with his Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party.
"This thing at the HNB has nothing to do with the HDZ," Plenković said in response to a question from Sandra Benčić (We Can!) during Question Time in Parliament. She accused the prime minister that he had made it possible through rules and regulations for HNB employees to trade in bonds and shares of banks supervised by the central bank and thus allowed the elite to exploit the majority.
"We have requested that these allegations be checked and the HNB has been requested to present its observations, and I expect this matter to be discussed," Plenković said, adding that he has no reason not to believe what HNB Governor Boris Vujčić said.
Plenković questioned the timing of the HNB issue, which comes during Croatia's preparations for accession to the euro area. "Should the possible damage to the HNB's reputation compromise Croatia's euro area membership?" he asked.
He reiterated his view that attempts had been made in the last 12 months to destabilise the institutions of the state by claiming that nothing was good and there was no future in Croatia.
Benčić likened the prime minister's views to conspiracy theories, saying that shifting responsibility to others was not a characteristic of a leader. "I call on you to accept criticism sometimes and announce changes accordingly, including a change of some of the people sitting here."
Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said that the government had responded to all the previous crises and that it would equally respond to the present increases in food and energy prices.
"Food prices are increasing in the world because of disruptions to supply chains caused by COVID, because of increased demand and bad weather. Energy prices are also increasing, which is affecting all sectors of the economy, including agriculture," Vučković said, recalling financial aid to Croatian farmers, direct payments in agriculture and aid to the livestock sector.
Plenković: Government Might Limit Fuel Prices Again
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - During Question Time in the Sabor on Wednesday, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that the government might once again limit the prices of fuel if they increased again next week.
"If we estimate that prices will increase next week, we will again limit the prices of all fuels, except for premium fuel," Plenković told MP Miro Bulj (Bridge) who claimed that Croatia currently had the most expensive fuel and that fuel prices were increasing while the price of crude oil was decreasing.
Plenković recalled that the government had capped the fuel prices three months ago at HRK 11.10 and HRK 11.00 and kept these prices for two months which helped avoid a shock to citizens.
"All these years that you have been grunting we have been working to help citizens and make it better for them," Plenković told Bulj.
Buj's party colleague Marija Selak Raspudić asked how many people have been employed in state and public services in the past four years, while Plenković said that he did not have that information at hand and if anyone was employed it was to make the state administration more efficient.
MP Vesna Vučemilović (Sovereignists) asked Finance Minister Zdravko Marić whether a zero or lower VAT rate would be introduced and, if so, for which products.
"We will take this into consideration. VAT won't be neglected, and which measures these will be, we will inform the Sabor and the public in due course," Marić said.
Plenković Asks MP if He's Alluding to Corruption between Him, Macron
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday called out Social Democratic Party MP Siniša Hajdaš Dončić for alluding in his questions about the purchase of Rafale fighter jets to corruptive activities between him and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The MP asked during Question Time how much the 12 French aircraft cost. "Since you are the president of a party convicted of political corruption and a French commission investigated a procurement of planes with India, I'd like to know why you don't show citizens that agreement. Will you make it public or not?"
"You are directly alluding to corrupt actions between the Croatian prime minister and the French president. Are you crazy? Do you know what is in those agreements?" Plenković responded.
"I will suggest to the defence minister to invite you all to the Defence Ministry to have a look and then, at your discretion, you can leak the types of weaponry to the portals. Every state will be glad to know what the agreement says," he added.
Plenković went on say that SDP president Peđa Grbin was "petty, irrelevant, ill-intentioned, worse than (previous SDP president Davor) Bernardić, which isn't easy politically."
He also commented on SDP MP Mirela Ahmetović's comparing him earlier with former prime minister Ivo Sanader, saying that she, who is the mayor of Omišalj, had tried to "dismantle the construction of the LNG terminal" there.
"That's the summary, that's your range," Plenković said, adding that he had to say something because today's Question Time was almost boring.
I'm really sorry for you, that a debutant could so sting and upset a person with such experience in diplomacy, Ahmetović countered.
SDP MP Sabina Glasovac said the prime minister was nervous and perhaps needed a break.
Fuchs: Schools Won't Close Automatically in Counties
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs said on Wednesday that schools won't close automatically but will stay open as long as possible because "we can't gamble with the education of children and younger generations."
"As the number of infections is increasing in the general population, it is also growing among students. We have been informed that about 120 schools could go online. We are staying with our initial doctrine and that is that we will not fully transfer to online classes nor do we recommend to counties to do so," Fuch told reporters in Parliament House following the record number of new COVID cases in the country.
The global trend is in line with what we have been saying from the beginning, he underscored, and that is a change in doctrine as far as schools are concerned. "You all said that schools should be the last to shut down in order to avoid isolation for students. We are talking with the public health institute and national COVID response team to revise the approach of sending students into self-isolation because entire grades are being sent into self-isolation if only one student tests positive," said Fuchs.
He added that at the moment 50% of schools do not have even one infected student and 152 schools have one or two positive students, so the view that we should keep schools open as long as possible is correct.
"There are several cases where teachers and technical staff in schools are a problem and not just the children and we will talk with the institute to see what can be done," he added.
PM Announces Set of Measures to Buffer Price Hikes
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - The government will design a package of measures to buffer energy price hikes for citizens if prices continue to rise, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in parliament on Wednesday during Question Time.
If prices continue to rise, besides capping fuel prices, we will raise allowances for socially vulnerable households, and as for electricity and gas prices, we will rely on (power utility) HEP, which can share the burden and buffer the blow to citizens, he told Mirela Ahmetović of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who asked what he planned to do about price rises.
As a third element, the prime minister mentioned VAT, which is 13% on electricity and 25% on gas.
He said energy price hikes were due to supply disruptions, COVID, and high demand. "Households in Croatia still haven't seen a rise in the price of electricity nor will they experience it before 1 April. It's the same with the price of gas."
"Whether the prices of electricity and gas rise or not, citizens will pay for the growth of basic groceries' prices. That's not important to you because you have money for that," Ahmetović said, telling Plenković he should think about his behaviour because his stock was falling and comparing him with former PM Ivo Sanader.
Peđa Grbin, SDP, asked how much Croatia would be able to spend of the HRK 5 billion from the EU Solidarity Fund for post-earthquake reconstruction and if the deadline for using the money could be extended.
"The deadline is 18 months, but deadlines are not the holy scripture. It's necessary to explain the circumstances to the Commission and I think we will explain our arguments well and use the funds," said Plenković.
Grbin said Plenković should assume the responsibility if the deadline was not extended.
Record-high 10,427 Daily COVID Numbers in Croatia
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - Croatia registered a new record in daily COVID numbers on Wednesday with 10,427 cases, while 45 people have died as a consequence of the virus, the national COVID response team reported.
The latest number is based on PCR tests taken and does not include Rapid Antigen Tests. The last time a record number was detected was last Wednesday with 9,894 cases.
There are currently 56,208 active cases, including 1,796 hospitalised patients, 204 of whom are on ventilators.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic in Croatia, a total of 836,807 cases of the novel coronavirus have been registered, 13,257 people have died. while a total of 767,342 have recovered, including 3,702 in the past 24 hours.
Currently, there are 31,730 people self-isolating.
To date, a total of 4,031,182 tests have been conducted, including 20,292 in the past 24 hours.
As of 18 January, a total of 4,990,195 doses of a vaccine had been administered, which is 56.27% of the total population or 66.98% of the adult population.
A total of 2,283,377 people have received at least one dose of a vaccine while 2,188,899 are fully vaccinated, which is 64.37% of the adult population.
Butković Announces Plan to Buy Six New Ships for Jadrolinija Shipping Company
ZAGREB, 19 Jan 2022 - During Question Time in the Croatian Parliament on Wednesday, Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković announced a plan to buy six new ships for the Jadrolinija shipping company.
"This year we plan to buy six new ships - three passenger ferries and three catamarans - through the National Recovery and Resilience Programme. Construction of those ships will begin this year and continue in 2023. Dubrovnik can expect a new ship," Butković said in response to a question by Mate Frankovića (HDZ) who warned of the obsolescence of the Postira ship which currently connects Dubrovnik with the Elaphiti islands.
Until then the Postira will be repaired or a used ship will be bought to service that route, added Butković.
Independent MP Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj was interested in the situation regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman saying that Croatia cares greatly for BiH's stability and not only for the sake of the Croats there but as a matter of security too.
Davor Dretar (Homeland Movement) asked Prime Minister Andrej Plenković whether farmers should be concerned about the poor strategic plan for agriculture, as a result of which they could be left without €3.6 billion of EU funds.
"Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković is responsible for that document and she enjoys my confidence," Plenković responded, stressing that the government would invest all efforts to use up the funds allocated for agriculture.
"We have heard that it is nice to live here and that you feel well in this country but the economic and demographic indicators show differently. We saw what happened to you when you went to Petrinja and what the people think about you," Dretar added, unsatisfied with the answer he was given.
Labour Minister Josip Aladrović told MP Dragana Jeckov (Independent Democratic Serb Party) that a new "Make a Wish" programme to employ women was currently being prepared including compensatory measures to bridge the time between two programme periods.
Veljko Mršić No Longer Croatia Men's Basketball Team Coach
January 19, 2022 - The Croatian Basketball Federation and the Croatia men's national team coach, Veljko Mršić, have reached an agreement to terminate cooperation.
Veljko Mršić took over the national team by the decision of the HKS Board of Directors in May 2019, led the first games in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, and together with his professional staff, and great effort of players, successfully passed through the qualifications for the European championship.
At the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Split, Croatia did not secure a spot in Japan. In November 2021, a new cycle of qualifications for the World Cup began. The national team started with two defeats and now faces a difficult path in the fight to qualify. The European Championship is scheduled for September 2022.
A session of the HKS Management Board confirming the amicable termination of cooperation was held on January 18, 2022.
"The Croatian Basketball Federation thanks Mr. Mršić for his time and enormous effort, for his contribution to the efforts aimed at strengthening Croatian basketball, and certainly for his cooperation. This way, I would like to wish him a lot of success in his future business engagements," said the president of HKS, Stojko Vranković, when discussing the contract termination.
Coach Veljko Mršić thanked HKS and his associates for their cooperation:
"After almost three years of good cooperation, I thank the Croatian Basketball Federation for the trust that resulted in the successful placement of the national team at the European Championships, which was defined as the primary goal. A special and sincere thanks go to the players who selflessly gave their best at all times. I would also like to thank all the people who were involved in the work of the national team, the employees of the Federation, and the professional staff for their support. I wish the professional staff support and the entire national team a lot of success in the continuation of the qualifications with a great desire to see Croatia at the World Cup."
The Croatian Basketball Federation will soon comment on further actions regarding the Croatian men's team.
