Opposition Says President's First Year in Office Marked by His Character
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - The parliamentary opposition said on Thursday that President Zoran Milanović's first year in office was marked by his character but that he failed to address more citizens' real-life problems.
"The first year in office was in line with expectations, in some of his public debates he gives a different view of the situation and it completes the picture, and sometimes, due to his style and cynicism, focus is shifted to things other than those intended," said Social Democrat Arsen Bauk.
Considering the constitutional powers at his disposal, the president did not make any mistakes and the values he advocates are common, said Bauk. "But the style is only his," he added.
The whip of the Homeland Movement, Stephen Nikola Bartulica, believes Milanović is looking for his place in the political arena but that he often does it in a tactless way.
"I believe that sometimes he is too honest about what he thinks, which possibly challenges his own voters, but that is his and not our problem. He said that he was a president with character and we have been witnessing more and more what kind of character that is," said Bartulica.
He said that sometimes it was better to relax the situation in society rather than insist on certain issues, and that he hoped the president would be able to sit at the table and help find solutions as a mature politician rather than always causing tension.
Nikola Grmoja (Bridge) said that Milanović was like "coronavirus waves", peaceful for some time, after which he engages in political quarrels that last for a few weeks, and then he turns quiet again.
He described as good the president's attitude to Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina and he also supported his fight for freedom of speech.
Hrvoje Zekanović of the Croatian Sovereignists said that in some situations Milanović acted as a true sovereignist, notably with regard to Croatia's eastern neighbour, but that "he then blows it".
Anka Mrak Taritaš of GLAS said that as a president with character, Milanović demonstrated both the good and the bad sides of his character.
The good side is that he is consistent with regard to certain issues, such as the "For the homeland ready" salute, she said.
Katarina Peović of the Workers' Front said Milanović's first year in office "lacks substance, is marked by too many verbal showdowns and few concrete moves."
Even though the office of president does not have significant executive significance, Peović believes that the president can advocate policies designed to restore dignity to the disenfranchised majority, which, she said, lived in very difficult conditions.
1,448 Housing Containers Set Up in Quake-Hit Area So Far
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - The head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County, Tomo Medved, has said that 1,448 housing containers and mobile homes have been set up in the area, with the task force having maximally simplified the process of applying for reconstruction.
"Provision of temporary accommodation in the earthquake-hit area is still among our priorities. So far we have installed 1,448 containers and mobile homes and connected 1,656 housing units to the power grid," Medved said at a government session on Thursday.
He added that 213 people whose properties were damaged or destroyed were staying in state-owned houses and flats.
"On 13 January we transferred for use by the town of Petrinja the Sajmište container settlement, consisting of 81 residential and six technical containers. We have started preparations for a container settlement in Glina, two more settlements will be built in Petrinja and Sisak and one in Majur municipality," said Medved.
He said that he would meet with representatives of the Italian Civil Protection service and define locations in the areas of Sisak and Petrinja where container settlements would be set up.
Towns and municipalities in the earthquake-hit area have submitted lists of damaged buildings that pose a danger and it has been suggested that 314 should be removed.
Medved recalled that on 14 February the demolition of the damaged Zrin barracks in Petrinja was completed and that on Monday work on removing the damaged warehouse of the Gavrilović meat factory in downtown Petrinja started.
He said that so far 783 tonnes of animal feed had been donated and that 684 tonnes had been distributed.
So far 31,052 buildings have been inspected, of which 3,801 have been found unfit for use and 6,801 temporarily unfit for use.
Medved said he would meet with the heads of damage assessment teams on Friday to structure total damage in the earthquake-hit area.
MP Calls for Accelerated Pension Plan for Staff Working with COVID Patients
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - Workers' Front MP Katarina Peović on Thursday called for introducing an accelerated retirement scheme for medical workers working with COVID-19 patients in respiratory support units.
"Those people work in difficult professional and medical conditions, are the most exposed to infection and are at risk of burnout," Peović told a news conference.
She said the situation could be compared with that of soldiers in the 1991-95 war whose years spent in war were recognised as double years of service.
"Work in respiratory support centres and in coveralls can qualify as particularly difficult, intensive and life-threatening work," Peović said, calling on the government once again to secure a legal basis for an accelerated retirement scheme for those workers.
She recalled that her party had submitted a motion to that effect in early January but the government rejected it "practically without any explanation."
Croatia will have 700,000 Vaccine Doses by End March, Says PM
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that Croatia would have 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of March, including those delivered to date and those to be delivered this month and in March.
"That means we will significantly increase the number of those vaccinated," he said at a cabinet meeting, adding that vaccination in Croatia was intensifying.
He said it was not good that some county public health institutes were giving information that confused people older than 65. "All three vaccines are effective in the sense that there are no ventilators, hospitalisations, deaths, whether it's the Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccine."
Plenkovic reiterated that was the position of the Health Ministry, the Croatian Institute of Public Health, the World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency. "It's important that the messages about the vaccines are consistent so that we don't make our fellow citizens suspicious of certain vaccines."
He reiterated that Croatia would request information from the Russians about their Sputnik V vaccine for the sake of people's safety and to make sure "that what is administered is reliable, verified and effective."
Plenković said the current number of new infections was 10% of the number registered on 10 December and that with the current average of 75 weekly infections per million population, Croatia ranked third in the EU, after Finland and Denmark, in terms of the lowest weekly average.
He said that if the situation remained like that, the government would further ease restrictions as of 1 March, "with or without encouragement" from county civil protection authorities.
Beroš: 210,870 doses have arrived in Croatia to date
To date 210,870 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in Croatia and 142,222 have been administered to 87,169 people, Health Minister Vili Beroš said at the cabinet meeting.
One shot has been given to 32,116 people and two shots to 55,053.
Beroš said the first stage of vaccination was nearing completion in most counties and that 20,895 doses had been given to older people and patients with chronic conditions as part of the second stage.
There have been 832 reports of suspected side effects, mainly mild and passing reactions.
Beroš announced that a system for the registration of people interested in being vaccinated would be operational as of 22 February. He said people would be able to register either with their family doctors, online or via a call centre.
The number of new infections is falling on the weekly level, the number of hospitalisations is also falling, the number of discharged patients is higher than the number of incoming patients, and the number of active cases has dropped by 1% in one week, the minister said.
Consequently, Zagreb's KB Dubrava hospital plans to further reduce the number of COVID beds and to return the medical staff temporarily assigned there to their hospitals, he added.
He recalled that an expert commission had been formed for the treatment of patients with post-COVID consequences, saying that it would write a report with all the relevant information for family and hospital doctors.
US visa waiver
Plenković also commented on the fact that the U.S. confirmed that Croatia had met one of the key visa waiver requirements. "We believe the procedures should be completed by summer so that 30 years after (Croatia's) recognition, our citizens will resolve the visa issue."
Magnitude 4.0 Earthquake Hit Petrinja and Sisak Area, Felt in Zagreb
February 18, 2021 – A rather strong earthquake hit the Petrinja and Sisak area today at around 1:08 pm. It was also felt in other parts of Central Croatia, mostly in Zagreb.
Today, February 18, 2021, at 1:08 pm, seismologists from the Croatian Seismological Service recorded a relatively strong earthquake with the epicenter not far from Petrinja, near Glinska Poljana. The magnitude of the quake was 4.0 according to Richter and the intensity in the epicenter of the 5th degree of the EMS scale.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) estimates the earthquake's magnitude was 4.2. The epicenter was 17 km northwest of Sisak and 45 km from Zagreb, at a depth of 2 km.
Map of felt reports received so far following the #earthquake M4.2 in Croatia 40 min ago pic.twitter.com/v5o3qNRdMx
— EMSC (@LastQuake) February 18, 2021
Citizens from all over central Croatia report they felt the earthquake – from Zagreb, Karlovac, Velika Gorica, Sisak, Petrinja, Varaždin – and even from Ptuj in Slovenia. In just a few minutes, the EMSC collected thousands of earthquake reports. According to citizens' reports, the earthquake was a short but strong blow and waving.
"At first, it seemed to rumble, and then it shook for a few seconds," said one witness.
"About five seconds of good shaking in the Maksimir area. Another intensive aftershock," said another witness.
"A hit, then prolonged rocking, six to seven seconds duration," are some more of the comments from witnesses.
As Index reports, the earthquake was felt even during the Government session in the National and University Library in Zagreb.
"Here, we have just felt an earthquake in the National and University Library," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said during the session.
After this first blow, two more slight tremors hit Sisak and its surroundings, magnitudes 2.3 and 1.5 on the Richter scale. The EMSC reports that these are all aftershocks of the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Petrinja and Sisak-Moslavina County on December 29, 2020, and left many damages.
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SDP Calls for Systematic Financing of Shelters for Domestic Violence Victims
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - The Social Democratic Party (SDP) parliamentary group has called on the government to secure systematic financing for shelters for victims of domestic violence and to finally put forward a national strategy for gender equality as Croatia has not had one since 2015.
"(PM Andrej) Plenković has forgotten that slightly more than two years since the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, we still do not have shelters in each of our regions, to which the Convention obliges us," SDP MP Sabina Glasovac told a news conference in the parliament.
Of the six shelters which the government pledged to open by the end of 2019, only one has been opened, she said.
"There are no counselling centres for women-victims of domestic violence either. It is a fact that penalties for domestic violence have been made stricter but due to insufficient education courts continue delivering the most lenient sentences, regardless of whether they rule on domestic violence as a misdemeanor or a criminal offence," Glasovac warned.
She went on to say that the government had turned to EU structural funds for financing for a sufficient number of places in regional shelters, noting that the problem with that type of financing is that it lasts only three years so there is no guarantee there will be funding for those shelters to continue operating after three years.
It is true that a toll-free helpline has been introduced for victims of domestic violence but there is a lack of measures to help the victims in the context of increased violence caused by the coronavirus crisis, she said, adding that there was also no progress in school education about domestic violence.
"We expect the government to secure systematic financing for shelters to help people who work with victims of domestic violence. I also call on the government to finally put forward a national gender equality policy as Croatia has not had one since 2015, which bears witness to the government and PM Plenković's attitude to women in Croatia and their problems," said Glasovac.
PM: 25 shelters for domestic violence victims
A few days ago, during a ceremony of awarding a HRK 11.7 million grant from the European Social Fund for the establishment of a safe house for domestic violence victims in Dubrovnik, PM Plenković said that domestic violence "is a serious problem of the Croatian society".
"We have 25 shelters with 346 beds for domestic violence victims. Unfortunately, a half of their capacity is occupied, which means that the problem is conspicuous. We must do our best to eradicate it," Plenković said.
New Shipment with Protective Equipment, Worth €1.14m, Arrives from China
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - A new shipment of COVID-19 protective equipment arrived in Croatia from China on Thursday.
The equipment arrived in the Rijeka port aboard the CMA CGM Corneille ship.
The government said today that the equipment, consisting of 487,200 protective coveralls and 1.175 million shoe covers, worth more than €1.137 million, arrived in 11 containers, weighing around 87 tonnes.
The commodities were bought from the Chinese MEHECO company through the Commodity Reserves Directorate and in cooperation with the Croatian Embassy in Beijing.
MP Calls for Revising List of Drugs, Adopting Rules on Cannabis Cultivation
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - GLAS party MP Anka Mrak Taritaš on Thursday called on Health Minister Vili Beroš to remove cannabis from the list of dangerous drugs and to adopt rules to allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis for medical purposes.
Two years ago a law was adopted that formally allowed cannabis to be cultivated for medical purposes however the drug list has not been revised nor have rules been adopted to regulate that matter and without that, it is not possible to obtain a license to grow cannabis, Mrak Taritaš told a news conference in the parliament.
"Let's finish this so that cannabis can finally be produced and sold for medical purposes in Croatia," she said, recalling that the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs adopted a recommendation in late 2020 from the World Health Organisation under which cannabis and cannabis resin should be removed from the list of dangerous drugs that cause strong addiction.
Without disregarding the negative effects, the WHO decided that cannabis has a positive effect in reducing pain and nausea and alleviating symptoms of anorexia, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, Mrak Taritaš said.
Sisak-Moslavina Development Agency SIMORA Named Best in Europe!
February 18, 2021 – After so much bad news from Sisak-Moslavina County recently due to earthquakes, there finally comes some positive news. Thanks to best practices in regional development, the Sisak-Moslavina development agency SIMORA was named the best in the whole of Europe.
To identify best regional development practices, EURADA, the European Association of Development Agencies based in Brussels, evaluates the best development agencies through their projects. In the sea of numerous and successful European projects, as well as the agencies that design and implement them, it is difficult to find the best on the list of those chosen by the EURADA expert jury. However, for 2020, the Sisak-Moslavina development agency SIMORA, which is also the first award winner from Croatia ever, succeeded.
36 start-ups in the gaming industry
Namely, with numerous projects in entrepreneurship, rural development, strategic planning, social funds, and EU funds, development agency SIMORA created 217 new jobs and preserved over 1000 of them. The EURADA thus recognized it for improving life in Sisak-Moslavina County.
"The European Association of Development Agencies has informed us about the selection, and we expect an invitation to take over the award soon. We were already in the top five European development agencies in 2017, but the first place is really great news for us!" said Mario Čelan, the director of SIMORA.
In selecting SIMORA as the best European development agency, the EURADA jury particularly emphasized the concept of how to develop the region and how to employ young people. It was also important how to educate young people to make video games, mentor them to become entrepreneurs as easily as possible, support their start-ups, and use state-of-the-art facilities and equipment in the PISMO business incubator in Novska.
"Becoming gaming expert-capacities upskilling" is the name of the practice, which was awarded thanks to SIMORA. Ultimately, it resulted in the opening of 36 start-ups and solved the problem of youth employment in a specialized and fastest-growing industry – the gaming industry.
SIMORA also has the best Croatian EU project
"It is a great recognition to receive the status of the best European development agency,' especially since we are the first agency from Croatia that managed to get this title. The year 2020 brought us a lot of written and approved projects, and this award is just the crown of the entire work of SIMORA, which this year celebrates 15 years of work," said Čelan.
On this occasion, he commended all employees who work on all projects, as well as ministries and public administrations from state, regional, and local levels. Without them, he said, SIMORA's projects would not come to life. He also thanked all clients and partners for recognizing SIMORA.
The EURADA award is prestigious because it is not only awarded to members of the association but also all other development agencies based in Europe. In addition to being the best European development agency in 2020, SIMORA also got an award for the best Croatian EU project – the PISMO business incubator in Novska.
Source: Simora
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Croatia's Coronavirus Update: 365 New Cases, 24 Deaths, 269 Recoveries
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - In the last 24 hours, Croatia has performed 6,072 coronavirus tests and 365, that is 6%, have returned positive, while there have been 24 deaths linked to COVID-19, the national COVID-19 response team said on Thursday.
Currently, there are 2,291 active cases, and of them, 829 are being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals, including 74 on ventilators.
Since 25 February, when the first case of the disease was identified in Croatia, a total of 1,288,429 persons have been tested for the virus. Of them, 238,866 have tested positive and 5,399 have died as a consequence of that infectious disease.
As many as 231,176 have recovered, including 269 recoveries in the last 24 hours.
Currently, 11,475 people are self-isolating
