Politics

ZAGREB, 9 January, 2022 - Bosnia and Herzegovina will stay buried in the past as long as populist and nationalist politicians, such as the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, who has unveiled a memorial plaque in tribute to Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) Major Milan Tepić, live on myths, the Mayor of Bjelovar, Dario Hrebak, said on Sunday. Major Tepić blew up himself and the JNA barracks outside Bjelovar in 1991, and the town was not razed to the ground only thanks to the Croatian defenders, Hrebak recalled. "As long as populist and nationalist politicians, in particular those as young…

ZAGREB, 9 January, 2022 - The head of Bjelovar-Bilogora County, Marko Marušić, has condemned the unveiling of a memorial plaque in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) Major Milan Tepić, who blew up an ammunition depot in Bjelovar in 1991 to prevent Croatian forces from seizing the weapons. Marušić said in a statement on Sunday that the monument honouring Major Tepić was "a slap in the face and salt on the wound" to all victims of the Serbian military aggression on Croatia, especially those in Bjelovar (about 80 km east of Zagreb).  Major Tepić will be…

January the 9th, 2022 - A massive seven billion euros has already been paid out to the Republic of Croatia from European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), with a massive 13.2 billion euros of projects contracted. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the country contracted over 13 billion euros in order to finance various projects by the end of last year from European Structural and Investment Funds. So far, 6.95 billion euros or 64.8 percent of the allocated funds from EU funds have been disbursed, as was announced on Wednesday from the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds. At part of…

ZAGREB, 8 Jan 2022 - A public procurement procedure for the post-earthquake reconstruction of the government building has been paused because a complaint has been filed against project documentation, Jutarnji List daily said on Saturday. This will slow down the HRK 155-million-worth seismic retrofitting and reconstruction project co-financed by the EU Solidarity Fund. The EU money must be spent by the end of June, unless the European Commission makes an exception and extends the deadline. HRK 61.5 million from the Solidarity Fund is envisaged for project documentation and the protection of the government building and a seismic retrofitting agreement has been signed. The government expects works on…

ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 - The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs on Friday condemned the criticism by the Serbian Ministry of the Interior of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's comments on the search for a young Croatian who went missing in Belgrade a week ago. The Serbian Ministry of the Interior said on Thursday it was not surprised that "Plenković has no respect for the work of the Serbian police." It called on the Croatian prime minister "to show respect for the missing person's family," adding that he was only obstructing the work of the Serbian police "with his absurd…

January 7, 2022 - Minister of Science and Education Radovan Fuchs spoke at a press conference and reaffirmed the return to school classes in Croatia from this Monday. He also added that there will be mandatory masks in Croatian schools for those in fifth grade and up, among other considerations. "You can see that, as the Government has insisted that school classes in Croatia be given in person, we have reduced online teaching to a minimum. Despite its necessity, virtual classes have their downsides, even if it was made with the highest standards for which we received a lot of recognition," he said. He added…

ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 - A ceremony was held in Podrute near the northwestern town of Novi Marof on Friday to commemorate five European Community peace monitors whose unarmed helicopter was shot down by the Yugoslav Air Force 30 years ago. A helicopter carrying EU monitors Colonel Enzo Venturini and Lieutenants Marco Matta, Silvano Natale and Fiorenzo Ramacci of Italy and French Lieutenant Jean Loup Eychenne was shot down above Podrute by a Yugoslav Air Force MiG-21 on 7 January 1992. Everyone on board was killed. In their memory, wreaths were laid by the representative of the President of the Republic, Dragan Lozančić, the representative of the…

ZAGREB, 7 January, 2022 - The possibility of Schengen Area enlargement will be decided by EU heads of state or government, prior to which it is necessary to reach an agreement on external border protection and the registration of all aliens entering the EU, a French government source said on Friday. President Emmanuel Macron has spoken in favour of Croatia's Schengen accession and the decision is up to the heads of state or government, the source said when asked if a decision on Croatia's accession could be expected during the French presidency of the Council of the European Union, in the first half of…

ZAGREB, 6 Jan 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Thursday commented on the procurement of Bradley US fighting vehicles, saying there had been dilemmas within the army's General Staff and the Defence Ministry, which was why he requested detailed reports from them. Speaking to the press, Plenković said he had "initiated (a) detailed verification of what we can get, how much it costs, what the Croatian Army needs." He said the procurement was a detailed process that began in 2017 and thereby Croatia was reinforcing its defence cooperation with the United States as well as its own army and contribution to NATO. Croatia…

ZAGREB, 6 Jan 2022 - President Zoran Milanović said on Thursday that Defence Minister Mario Banožić should "stop lying" and commented on yesterday's online meeting with United States representatives on the possibility of equipping the Croatian Army with Bradley fighting vehicles. Milanović said in a press release the meeting was convened by Banožić in order for Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to obtain detailed technical information from US representatives on the Bradleys "so that he could make a decision." He noted that Plenković did not participate in the meeting due to other commitments, as Milanović said Banožić told the Americans. He said the meeting…