News

February 24, 2022 - The City of Split, as the majority owner, has applied for funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for the Poljud Stadium renovation. Poljud Stadium, a symbol of Split that has hosted some of the most spectacular football matches of Hajduk and the Croatia national team, has adorned the city under Marjan since 1979 when it was built for the 8th Mediterranean Games. However, this spectacular shell near the sea is in dire need of an upgrade, which is fortunately in the plans.  Namely, according to the latest analysis, the renovation of the Poljud stadium…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - It is still possible to delay elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, due in October, if that would help resolve the problem of electoral law reform, the leader of the predominantly Bosniak Democratic Action Party (SDA), Bakir Izetbegović, said on Wednesday. Izetbegović was speaking to the press in Sarajevo after talks between the Croat and Bosniak parties on the reform of electoral law, which were to have been held in Mostar on Tuesday, had been cancelled without explanation. Izetbegović said he had not been invited to that meeting at all, but added that that did not…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - Opposition parties in the Croatian parliament on Wednesday demanded an early election, saying that the appointment of a new construction minister would not change anything, and corruption would continue to thrive in the country. "The fact that Minister Horvat is no longer in this post and that an extension of the deadline has been granted for the use of funding from the EU Solidarity Fund doesn't change anything. People are still living in container homes and do not know for how long," said Anka Mrak Taritaš of the Centre/GLAS group. "Everything has changed in the…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - Democracy is losing ground as the number of autocratic countries in the world is on the rise, according to a study by the German Bertelsmann Foundation released on Wednesday. "For the first time since 2004, the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Transformation Index (BTI) counts more autocratically governed states than democracies," the foundation said in the report, adding that "among the 137 countries surveyed, only 67 are still democracies, while the number of autocracies has risen to 70." The study was carried out between 2019 and 2022. Croatia ranked among "well-governed democracies", alongside Uruguay, Estonia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - Two professional construction associations on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to appoint an expert in construction and in management of civil engineering projects as the new minister of physical planning, construction and state assets. The Croatian Chamber of Civil Engineers and Croatian Alliance of Civil Engineers sent a letter to the prime minister appealing for candidates to be carefully considered, particularly with regard to  the post-quake reconstruction as the most challenging task construction-wise in recent Croatian history. That task requires expertise and sound knowledge of civil engineering, and it is of utter importance that the nominee has years…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - The Croatian-Ukrainian Friendship Society has called on the Croatian Parliament to follow the example of other parliaments and recognise the Holodomor, the great famine of the early 1930s when over seven million people were starved to death, as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people. This crime, committed on the basis of Soviet laws, has all elements of genocide, says the proposal adopted by the association's assembly on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor. The association said in a statement, signed by its president Đuro Vidmarović, that the Holodomor was organised…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - The Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) on Wednesday issued an indictment against former Knin mayor and state secretary Josipa Rimac of the HDZ party and another 26 suspects, including several former office-holders, on corruption and abuse of office charges. The USKOK investigated this case after a scandal dubbed "wind parks" broke out, but the indictment, which was lodged with Zagreb County Court today, does not refer to the circumstances surrounding the wind parks case, but to alleged irregularities in the allocation of state aid to farmers and grants to businesses, unfair employment and…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - Several MPs responded heatedly on Wednesday to SDSS leader Milorad Pupovac's accusations about their intention to incite hatred, while he was speaking in defence of Deputy Prime Minister and party colleague, Boris Milošević, who is under investigation for abuse of power. "There are some people who allegedly advocate justice and legality yet they are doing that in such a way that they incite and instigate hatred and with that, they destroy the very notion of justice and legality while inciting hatred easily leads to inciting violence," said Pupovac of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) and added, "those…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - Eight people from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are suspected of smuggling at least 119 Turkish nationals across the border in the wider area of Dubrovnik and Dalmatia, on 21 occasions in 2021 and 2022 and earning HRK 370,000, Dubrovnik police have reported. Following months of a police investigation, seven Croatian nationals and one from BiH have been suspected of multiple crimes of illegal entry, movement and residence in Croatia and other EU member states. "The group helped at least 119 Turkish nationals to illegally cross the border and gained HRK 370,000 for that", the police…

ZAGREB, 23 Feb 2022 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević inaugurated the Sljeme Cable Car on Wednesday, and citizens who have been waiting for the new cable car since 2007 can use it as of tomorrow. "I am confident that the numerous citizens who will use this cable car will see that the ride is both safe and comfortable," Tomašević said, adding that the main task now is to enhance and increase the attractions and infrastructure on Mount Sljeme, overlooking the capital. The old cable car was inaugurated in 1963 for the transport of athletes, recreationists and mountaineers, and its route was 4 km, 1…