Politics

ZAGREB, 4 Feb 2022 - The French EU presidency has received broad support for the Schengen reform and gradual adoption of the migration and asylum pact with greater emphasis on the protection of the EU's external borders, and these reforms can go in parallel with the process of admission of Croatia to the Schengen area, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Thursday.   Božinović attended an informal meeting of EU home affairs ministers in the northern French city of Lille on Thursday, which focused on the reform of the Schengen passport-free travel area and the new Pact on Migration and Asylum.…

February the 4th, 2022 - Croatian energy investment with a European Union (EU) plan to pump in a massive 6 billion euros is attracting a lot of talk among those in the sector. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes, as announced back at the end of last year, the European Union recently presented a plan which, despite being controversial for some, will consider new investments in nuclear energy and gas thermal power plants. On top of that, it will make infrastructure environmentally sustainable, ie green, which means that it will be facilitated institutionally through EU funds and private investments in such…

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - Opposition female members of the Croatian parliament gathered as part of an informal initiative to increase support for victims of sexual violence on Thursday called on all courts in the country to give priority to cases of physical and sexual violence against women and children. Dalija Orešković of the Centre party warned of the slowness and inefficiency of the judiciary in protecting children's rights, saying that a country is governed by the rule of law in so far as it provides legal protection to those who need it. "We have received a large number of…

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - President and Armed Forces Commander in Chief Zoran Milanović on Thursday decorated retired Colonel Danijel Borović, who was the first to fly a Yugoslav People's Army MIG over to the Croatian side in February 1992, for the bravery and heroism displayed in the Homeland War. On the 30th anniversary of that flight, the president thanked Borović for his brave act, saying that in the history of the Croatian war some names were rightfully and respectfully known to the wider public and children. "One of the names that, without reason or justification, is not as well-known is your honourable…

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - The proposal to amend the Foreign Qualifications Recognition Act provides for the recognition of post-secondary school education that is not part of the higher education system, Science and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs said at a cabinet meeting on Thursday. The existing law does not provide for the recognition of foreign regulated professions and is not harmonised with strategic EU documents, so it was necessary to draw up the new proposal, the minister said. The new law is expected to facilitate access to the labour market for skilled labour and provide protection from poor qualifications, he…

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - The parliamentary Committee on the Constitution and Standing Orders on Thursday asked the government to verify the signatures collected for two referendum petitions by the opposition Bridge party and notify parliament. The committee also asked the government to check if the signatures were collected in line with the valid Referendum Act. The committee accepted Bridge president Božo Petrov's motion to include at least two representatives of each initiative in the signature counting. One petition was for abolishing COVID certificates and the other for abolishing the national COVID crisis management team. The committee did not accept a proposal to define a…

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - Health Minister Vili Beroš defended in parliament on Thursday the COVID certificate mandate and children testing as part of the fight against the pandemic and underlined the importance of vaccination because the tourist season could depend on it. "One of the criteria the European Commission might consider for travel recommendations is the vaccination rate of the domestic population. If it is so, we'll have a problem and won't do well," Beroš told Emil Daus of the Istrian Democratic Party, who asked about plans for the summer tourist season. Last year we were the champions of…

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - Minister Nikolina Brnjac and tourism sector representatives warned on Thursday about the need to have a higher rate of vaccination against COVID-19 in the country, calling on the sector and other stakeholders to be responsible so as to maintain the current good situation with bookings. The tourism minister and officials said this after this year's first session of the Council for Tourism Development and Recovery, at which Brnjac informed sector representatives about work on a new tourism strategy and new developments regarding labor. Brnjac said a new online system for the registration and import of workers would be put…

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - Twenty contracts on the education of 368 various professionals in preschool education were awarded on Thursday by Labour Minister Josip Aladrović and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs. The project, worth 45 million kuna (€6 million), is funded from the European Union's funds and is aimed at the education of various professionals in the educational system, who will care for 1,537 children. Minister Aladrović said that this was only a fragment of all investments in the educational system. He added that the project also connected three priorities of the EU Social Fund. For instance, it will produce…

ZAGREB, 3 Feb 2022 - GLAS party leader Anka Mrak Taritaš on Thursday called for removing the metal fence put up in St. Mark's Square, where the government and parliament are located, and for finding an appropriate security solution, accusing PM Andrej Plenković of arrogance and of fencing himself off from Croatia's reality. Speaking at a news conference, Mrak Taritaš said the fence in St. Mark's Square had been put up more than a year ago, after a shootout outside the government offices in which a police officer was wounded. "Absolutely nothing has happened since except for the prime minister expressing yesterday…