Politics

ZAGREB, 19 Dec, 2021 - The visit by Croatian President Zoran Milanović to Bosnia and Herzegovina set for Sunday has been cancelled due to security reasons, the Office of the President has said. President Milanović was to have travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina to attend an event marking the 28th anniversary of the humanitarian convoy "White Road for Nova Bila and Bosna Srebrena". The decision to cancel the visit was made on the basis of a security assessment by the competent institutions of the Republic of Croatia, the Office of the President said in a statement today, without disclosing other details.…

ZAGREB, 18 Dec, 2021 - Once it enters the Schengen area of passport-free travel, Croatia will not erect a fence on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in an interview with the Večernji List daily Saturday issue. Commenting on his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina earlier this week, Plenković said that Croatia supports BiH's sovereignty and integrity as well as its spirit as agreed in Dayton - one state, two entities and three equal constituent peoples, noting that Croatia will not allow the inequality of Croats in relation to the other two constituent peoples. "My position is clear and…

ZAGREB, 17 Dec 2021 - Croatia on Friday became a full non-regional member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Ministry of Finance said. The AIIB is an international development bank headquartered in Beijing, established in 2015 to support sustainable economic development, create wealth and improve infrastructure connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region. The Bank has a high AAA/Aaa rating and a capital of $100 billion. AIIB's operations are primarily focused on the Asian region, which accounts for 45% of the world economy and 60% of the world population. According to its Corporate Strategy for 2021-2030, AIIB's mission is defined…

December 17, 2021 - Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović attended a ceremony in Zadar on Friday marking the completion of mine clearance activities in Zadar County. Thirty-five people were killed in the Zadar County by mines left over from the 1991-95 war. Zadar County head Božidar Longin was presented on that occasion with a certificate showing that the county is no longer among areas suspected of being infested with mines while Civil Protection Directorate head Damir Trut held a presentation on the mine removal project in Zadar County, reports Antena Zadar. Thirty-five people were killed in Zadar County by mines left…

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - EU leaders on Thursday underlined the importance of vaccination in the fight against COVID-19, including a booster shot given the worrying Omicron variant. The vaccination of all and receiving a booster shot is crucial and urgently necessary, according to European Council conclusions on the pandemic. EU heads of state or government said it is crucial to overcome the suspiciousness about vaccination and to fight vaccine disinformation. As to travel restrictions, the European Council called for coordinated efforts to respond to the situation based on available scientific evidence, and for imposing travel restrictions based on objective criteria, without…

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - The conclusions by the Council of the European Union concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina contain everything that is important for the Croats in that country, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Thursday. "Whenever the Dayton agreement is mentioned, that implies the constituent peoples. Any reference to Constitutional Court judgments implies the judgment in the Ljubić case, which concerns legitimate representation. All that is essential is in there, but one should have background knowledge and be able to decipher the conclusions, what they actually mean," Plenković told reporters in response to criticisms from President Zoran Milanović…

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - The City of Dubrovnik has become the majority owner of the Dubrovnik Port company with a 51.32% stake, mayor Mato Franković said on Thursday, calling this important for the company's future and the management of the city's port area. The city previously acquired a 48.75% stake in the company and has become the majority owner after the city-owned company UTD Ragusa acquired another 2.75%. At a general shareholders' assembly on 22 November, Dubrovnik Port was authorized to buy 8.99% of its shares from the Atlantska Plovidba shipping company. The mayor told the press that today was a…

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - Over HRK 60,000 (€8,000) has been raised in less than 24 hours to help activist Dragan Umičević pay the fine for helping the Hussiny family from Afghanistan to illegally cross the border into Croatia, the non-governmental organization Are You Syrious? (AYS) said on Thursday. Umičević, a volunteer with Are You Syrious, helped the Afghan family to illegally enter Croatia and apply for asylum in March 2018. Police pressed charges against him for assisting in the crossing of the border illegally, and the High Administrative Court has fined him HRK 60,000 and ordered him to pay HRK…

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - Ten contracts worth HRK 116.4 million were signed on Thursday to finance water management projects as part of the 2021-26 National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The contracts were signed at the Hrvatske Vode water management company by Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić and Hrvatske Vode general manager Zoran Đuroković. They said these ten contracts were the first step in utilizing National Recovery and Resilience Plan funds. The contracts concern the allocation of grants from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility to finance investment in public water supply and drainage projects. A total of 70 projects were submitted and…

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on Thursday called out President Zoran Milanović over his criticism of the government's support for the Council of the EU conclusions on Bosnia and Herzegovina, describing the president's statement as malicious and an attempt to destabilise the government. "The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs rejects in the strongest terms the malicious insinuations that are detrimental to Croatia's interests, about Croatia's having endorsed conclusions that do not guarantee the rights of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a constituent people," Grlić Radman told a news conference in Zagreb. In a letter he…