Politics

January the 30th, 2022 - An enormous EBRD Croatian investment took place last year, with the investment of a massive 176 million euros in various private sector projects which were primarily focused on supporting domestic companies affected by the global coronavirus pandemic. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, according to the final results, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recorded its largest investment in Croatia in three years in 2021. The total amount of EBRD Croatian investments to date stands at a huge 4.1 billion euros, and the current value of the portfolio is 850 million. During 2021, 200 million…

January the 30th, 2022 - A weaker Croatian national currency (kuna) during Croatian Eurozone accession could cause more issues than solve them. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, with Croatian Eurozone accession rapidly approaching, set to occur at the very beginning of 2023, one of the main issues will be the rate at which the kuna will be exchanged for the Eurozone's single currency. There isn't really much room for maneuver as the rules require targeting around a central parity of 7.5345. For years, critics have been making negative remarks about the Croatian kuna for being too strong, arguing that it makes…

ZAGREB, 29 Jan 2022 - President Zoran Milanović's statements about Croatian troops' deployment on the eastern borders of the EU are nonsense that causes great harm to Croatia, European Parliament member Tomislav Sokol of the ruling HDZ party said on Saturday, presenting his party's view. Asked by reporters if Croatian troops would be deployed on the EU's eastern borders, Sokol said that that was a falsehood made up by Milanović. "It is being alleged that Croatian soldiers will get killed for somebody. What (Milanović) is saying is a complete fabrication. Such statements cause serious harm to Croatia," Sokol said after a…

ZAGREB, 29 Jan 2022 - Although President Zoran Milanović's statements on Ukraine, EU, NATO, and Russia were intended for his face-off with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in the home policy, they have done damage to Croatia's credibility in the global affairs, Member of European Parliament, Tonino Picula, says. The Croatian MEP said in an interview with Hina before his departure for Ukraine at the helm of the European Parliament's delegation, that he could see Milanovć's claims about Ukraine not belonging in NATO and his understanding for Russia's arguments in the Russia-Ukraine crisis "as his statements serving primarily the purpose of his conflicts on the internal policy scene."…

ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - President Zoran Milanović on Friday accused the government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković as the most corrupt Croatian government yet. "Plenković is protecting the people who are simply corrupt. I cannot call it any other way," Milanović said in an interview with RTL television. Milanović said that Plenković's chief of staff Zvonimir Frka Petešić had deliberately registered his residence on Dugi Otok island so that he could qualify for a state-owned apartment in Zagreb.  Frka Petešić "is fully aware that what he has done is punishable under the law, yet he enjoys the prime minister's…

ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Opposition parties said in parliament on Friday they were submitting a motion for the replacement of Construction Minister Darko Horvat over the slow pace of post-earthquake reconstruction of Zagreb and Sisak-Moslavina County and insufficient absorption of funding from the EU Solidarity Fund. GLAS party leader Anka Mrak Taritaš said all citizens were aware that Horvat could not do the job of reconstruction. "PM Andrej Plenković will defend Horvat but deep down he, too, is aware that he cannot do this job. As long as Horvat is in this post, there will be no reconstruction," Mrak Taritaš, who launched…

ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Friday Croatia was near the top in the EU in terms of security, and announced the procurement of new police vehicles and equipment. That would not have been possible had we not embarked on a comprehensive procurement of everything the police need," he said at a ceremony at the Police Academy at which 28 traffic police vans worth HRK 13 million were handed over. Božinović announced the procurement of motorcycles and interceptor vehicles worth HRK 40 million, saying that it was an investment in comprehensive security so that Croatia could stay near…

ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Friday that messages on security issues are not disseminated at news conferences, after he was asked by the press about speculations that President Zoran Milanović's security is at risk following his statements on the situation in Ukraine. "The basic principle is that security issues should not be discussed publicly. As far as our services are concerned and that refers to security and intelligence services and the Interior Ministry, they do their job 24 hours a day and I am certain that they are monitoring everything that is relevant to the security of Croatian citizens, including…

ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Serbian Ombudsman Zoran Pašalić has requested the withdrawal of a Serbian language textbook for eighth-graders which denies the existence of the Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin languages, Croatian language-media in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina reported on Friday. The media quoted leaders of the ethnic Croat community as describing the recommendation as encouraging. A definition on the division of South Slavic languages in the contentious textbook, written by a group of authors, says that Serbian, Slovenian, Macedonian and Bulgarian belong to the South Slavic group of languages while "Croats, Bosniaks and some Montenegrins call the Serbian language Croatian, Bosnian, Bosniak and…

ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - The EU should also work on a European health union and prepare for future crises, which cannot be done without young people, European Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Šuica said in Zagreb on Friday. Speaking at the opening of the Conference on the Future of Public Health in Croatia and Europe, Šuica said that it was important to draw lessons from the coronavirus pandemic and start working on a future European health union. She added that the pandemic had shown that the EU could respond to crises together, citing the procurement and distribution…