Politics

ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Spies, priests, prosecutors and journalists; the innocent and the guilty alike are denounced as pro-Russian collaborators on Ukraine's online blacklist. "Some of those on the 'Myrotvorets' database may have been involved in acts of propaganda or heinous war crimes in the country's east, but others have done nothing more than offend political or popular sensitivity, or simply use the 'wrong' vernacular'," the London-based The Times reports. "It matters not: one and all are judged by a hidden panel, accused of 'deliberate acts against the national security of Ukraine' and have their personal data published alongside their supposed crimes for…

ZAGREB, 28 Jan 2022 - Deputy Mayor Danijela Dolenec on Thursday evening commented on Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić's accusing the City of Zagreb and Mayor Tomislav Tomašević of being responsible for markedly higher corporate gas bills in Zagreb, noting that a solution would have to be sought in cooperation with the state. Ćorić said earlier in the day that Tomašević and his team were responsible for the markedly higher corporate gas bills in Zagreb, and not HDZ personnel, because they failed to procure it at better prices. Tomašević said the former director of the City Gasworks' Supply division, Igor Pirija, who…

January the 28th, 2022 - First came transparent Bjelovar, and now after years of Milan Bandic being, well, let's say ''less than transparent'' about where and how the City of Zagreb's money is spent, new mayor Tomislav Tomasevic is introducing the Smart City Hub Zagreb, which will openly show how the capital's cash is spent. As Novac/Jutarnji/Hina writes, on Wednesday, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic presented the Smart City Hub Zagreb, the goal of which is to unite all different types of applications and information from various city offices in one place, and one of the novelties is the Open Budget…

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy Minister Josip Aladrović said on Thursday the government's final social welfare bill met the demands of associations of persons with disabilities, primarily by increasing certain allowances and eliminating the means test. "Between two readings the government increased certain allowances, removed the means test. Practically all associations of persons with disabilities had asked for it, and we met their demands." The minister stressed that amendments had been accepted regarding all five chamber laws and penalties for those unlawfully providing social services. "The system will undergo reorganisation this year. We…

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Thursday that because of President Zoran Milanović's statements about Ukraine, he had to call nearly every one of his counterparts and apologise. Milanović said on Tuesday that Ukraine did not belong in NATO, that it was one of the world's most corrupt countries, that president Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown in 2014 in a military coup, and that the crisis on the Ukraine-Russia border was a consequence of the US home policy. Ukraine issued a strong response and Milanović's statements were reported by world media. "We are appalled. I, as minister, have…

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković called out President Zoran Milanović on Thursday for undermining Croatia's reputation and credibility, and said the government distanced itself from his views on the Ukraine situation. Milanović's statements "are damaging for Croatia's reputation and shameful," he said at a cabinet meeting. "They lead to big disappointment, I'd say indignation, among our partners, from the Unites States to NATO member states, European Union member states, our neighbours." Plenković said it seemed that every important ambassador would be summoned due to Milanović's statements. "That's bad, it's scandalous, it undermines Croatia's reputation and credibility. It's in total opposition…

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that on International Holocaust Remembrance Day one should also remember the infamous Ustasha concentration camps, primarily Jasenovac, where thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma, and Croatian antifascists and democrats were killed. "Jasenovac is a painful and tragic part of Croatian history, and a lasting memory and strong condemnation of that crime are part of our culture of remembrance," Plenković said at a cabinet meeting. He said 7,500 Auschwitz inmates were liberated on 27 January 1945 and that 1.1 million people were killed in that concentration camp, including nearly a million Jews.…

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - A government official on Thursday rejected opposition amendments asking that persons eligible to provide foster care should also include formal and informal life partners, which Domagoj Hajduković (Social Democrats) called discrimination against same-sex partners wishing to be foster parents. The amendments are rejected, the article which you are asking to be amended is not subject to amendment of the Foster Care Act, Social Welfare Ministry State Secretary Marija Pletikosa said in a comment on amendments put forward by the Green-Left Bloc, the Social Democrats as well as independent MP Furio Radin, who is part of the parliamentary…

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - Interior Minister Davor Božinović, who is at the helm of Croatia's COVID-19 crisis management team, said on Thursday that current COVID protocols would remain effective until the end of February if no changes happened in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. "In the next few days, the crisis management team will consider the protocols on public gatherings, public transport, shopping, protective mask mandate, and cross-border protocols, and they are likely to remain in force until the end of February," Božinović told the government. Health Minister Vili Beroš said that the PCR tests conducted in the last 24 hours…

ZAGREB, 27 Jan 2022 - The Croatian Parliament started its session on Thursday with a minute of silence for Holocaust victims, with Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković saying that the Holocaust had begun with hate speech and ended in acts of evil. "The Holocaust is an eternal reminder of what kind of evil may result from xenophobia and racism," Jandroković said in his address for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is observed on 27 January. On 27 January 1945, the Red Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, the infamous symbol of the Holocaust and genocide of six million Jews in…