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ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - Constitutional Court Chief Justice Miroslav Šeparović said on Monday that the court's decision on the Bridge party's referendum initiative related to COVID crisis management was not the defeat of that court, and called on everyone advocating the rule of law to respect court decisions. "This is by no means the Constitutional Court's defeat but it is in line with what the Constitution envisages and that is for the Constitutional Court to decide if a referendum question is in line with the Constitution. I call on everyone who advocates the rule of law to respect the court's decisions. Referendum…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - Hina's director-general Branka Gabriela Vojvodić on Monday notified the national parliament and the Croatian Journalists' Association (HND) of pressure exerted by Marija Selak Raspudić, a parliamentary deputy of the Bridge party, on a Hina reporter in the parliament's press room recently. During the incident, which was provoked by the dissatisfaction of the opposition Bridge party with a news item that Hina published last Friday on the motions sponsored by the Opposition which were not supported by the ruling majority,  Bridge parliamentarian Nikola Grmoja was first to enter the press room and criticized Hina's journalists, finding fault with…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - An increasing number of mountain climbers and tourists in non-urban areas made the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) put its helicopters on standby as of 1 May, one month earlier than usual and they will remain on alert until 30 October, HGSS reported on Monday. HGSS noted that this is the first time its rescue helicopters were put on alert so early in the year as they are usually made available for standby service as of 1 June. "However, because of the continual increase in the number of mountain climbers, recreational hikers and tourists in non-urban areas,…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - The Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the questions in the two referendum petitions launched by the opposition Bridge party - to abolish mandatory COVID passes and transfer the powers of the national COVID response team to Parliament - were not in line with the Constitution. The decision on the first question was passed by three votes against and the decision on the second question by one vote against. The court found that the first question was not in line with the rule of law because it does not meet the requirement of "reasonable purposefulness and…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - About 400 ambulance drivers and paramedics went on strike on Monday saying they will continue striking until their demands are met and their pay is aligned with that of drivers in the medical system, with shop steward Vladimir Markuš saying that the Health Ministry pushed them into the strike. "The consequences of the strike will be visible already today and even more tomorrow. We are going until our demands are met, but unfortunately, the Health Ministry has literally pushed us into this strike," Markuš told Hina. The strikers are calling for a regulation that would align…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - The "Croatia Volunteers 2022" campaign took place on 11-14 May as part of the European Year of Youth, focusing on the potential of young people in tackling the challenges of current natural and social crises, the Croatian Volunteer Development Centre (HCRV) said on Monday. The campaign involved 200 organizers and several thousand volunteers in over 90 towns across the country who carried out over 300 activities benefiting the local community. Its aim was to promote the importance and benefits of volunteering for social development. "This year we wanted to emphasize the potential and strength of…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - Croatia has recorded 42 new coronavirus cases and 12 COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national COVID-19 response team reported on Monday morning. The total number of active cases in the country currently stands at 3,429. A total of 364 infected persons are being treated in the hospital, of whom 15 are on ventilators, and 1,697 people are self-isolating. Since 25 February 2020, when the first case was registered in the country, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been confirmed in 1,131, 492 persons and 15,942 of them have died.  A total of 4,839,184 people…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - This year the Croatian economy is expected to grow by 3.4%, the employment rate should increase by 1.5% and inflation might reach 6.1% due to increases in energy and food prices, the European Commission says in its Spring 2022 Economic Forecast, released on Monday. "After a strong rebound of the economy in 2021, with a growth rate of 10.2%, GDP growth in 2022 is expected to be more modest but still solid at 3.4% as the direct exposure of the Croatian economy to the effects of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine is limited," the Commission said…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - One more attempt should be made to reform the electoral law in Bosnia and Herzegovina because the present one does not guarantee the equality of its constituent peoples, Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman said in Brussels on Monday.  "Bosnia and Herzegovina still does not have an electoral law that guarantees the equality of its three constituent peoples and other ethnic groups, and that is not good for the country's stability. We need to make yet another attempt to carry out the electoral reform because that it the way towards EU membership…

ZAGREB, 16 May 2022 - Of 311,698 registered business entities in Croatia, 172,438 or 55.3% were active in March 2022, according to data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS). Most of the business entities were trading companies. At the end of March 2022, there were 234,561 trading companies registered, and 137,664, or 58.7%, were active. There were 73,589 institutions, associations, and organizations, of which 33,965 or 46.2% were active, as well as 3,548 cooperatives, of which 809 were active, and 88,184 sole proprietorships and freelancers. Out of 172,438 legal entities that were active at the end of March 2022, 66,497 or…