Politics

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek on Wednesday presented a national program aimed at encouraging parents to read to their children from an early age on. The program, called "Born to read", is implemented by the Culture and Media Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and with the support of the Croatian Pediatric Society and the Croatian Society of Preventive and Social Pediatrics. Speaking at a training course for pediatricians in Slavonski Brod, Obuljen Koržinek said she expected the program to encourage parents to read to their children. The program is part of the…

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - Dubrovnik-Neretva County has procured equipment for its firefighting units as part of an EU project for the strategic development of flood management.  The equipment, worth around HRK 600,000, is intended to remove damage caused by floods in the county. Next year, equipment worth more than HRK 1 million will be procured as part of the STREAM project to alleviate the consequences of serious river and sea pollution accidents, county head Nikola Dobroslavić said. The total value of the STREAM project is HRK 70.5 million (approx. €9.4 million)), of which 85% comes from the EU through the Interreg…

ZAGREB, 16 Dec 2021 - Organised crime is a structural problem in Western Balkan countries but it also affects EU countries, which is why members of the European Parliament are agreed that it is necessary to encourage reforms and open former Yugoslav archives. Michael Gahler, deputy rapporteur of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in a debate on a committee report on Tuesday that the document calls on Western Balkan governments to step up efforts to implement the necessary reforms, noting that ties between organized crime, politics, and business had existed before the break-up of the former Yugoslavia and continue to exist. Therefore in the…

December the 16th, 2021 - Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujcic has revealed more about when Croatia will begin displaying prices in shops and other sales outlets in both kuna and euros. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes, the latest forecast regarding the domestic economy has been revised once again with Boris Vujcic pointing out that the CNB is "cumulatively quite optimistic". The basic contribution to domestic GDP remains the same as before - foreign demand is primarily made up of the exports of services due to the surprisingly good tourist season this past summer, as well as the growth of…

ZAGREB, 16 December, 2021 - MOST MPs on Wednesday denied having planned to enter into a physical conflict with SDP MPs, noting that accusations that they are murderers and that they exploit death were uncivilised, adding that they had collected around 300,000 signatures for a referendum against COVID certificates. MP Marija Selak Raspudić said that the Act on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, passed by the parliament today, legalised unlawful duress as the previously adopted decision on COVID-19 certificates did not have any legal grounds. Accusations against MOST uncivilised Commenting on some opposition lawmakers accusing Bridge of being responsible for the current…

ZAGREB, 16 December, 2021 - SDP leader Peđa Grbin said on Wednesday that the government could and should have managed the coronavirus pandemic better, and that by refusing to have related decisions adopted by a two-thirds majority in parliament, it had taken over responsibility for the further increase in COVID-19 deaths. "The government has not been dealing well with the disease either economy-wise or health-wise. Croatia's vaccination rate is among the lowest in Europe and the consequence of that is the spreading of the disease and new fatalities," Grbin said. Rational decisions are still possible "We are telling the government again that it…

ZAGREB, 16 December, 2021 - The Contagious Diseases Act was amended on Wednesday, with 77 MPs voting in favour and 27 against, while the members of the MOST party walked out of the Parliament chamber. The amended law provides for fines of up to HRK 50,000 for responsible persons not complying with the COVID-19 certificate mandate in public institutions. During the vote, the majority turned down a conclusion proposed by the opposition that any laws and decisions restricting human rights and freedoms should be adopted by a two-thirds vote in the Sabor. The centre-left opposition parties said they would ask the Constitutional Court to…

ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - The mayor of the City of Kutina, 70 kilometers southeast of Zagreb, Zlatko Babić, and three more suspects in the case believed to be connected with the alleged white-collar crimes, were arrested by the police on Wednesday. The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) and the police did not reveal the identities of the arrested persons. Media outlets speculate that apart from Babić, also Davor Kljakić, who was until recently the chairman of the city council, an independent councilor Dražen Kinderman, and Darko Kolsek were arrested. The arrests are believed to be…

ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday condemned in the strongest terms attacks and the invective against healthcare workers, underscoring that COVID certificates were not anything special or any kind of restriction, but a tool used across Europe. "Insulting healthcare workers is inappropriate and unacceptable... instead of expressing gratitude to them for their commitment, we can see insults that deserve to be strongly condemned." On Tuesday evening, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković also deplored the aggressive behavior of some demonstrators at rallies against COVID certificates and vaccines. Commenting on the latest COVID numbers in Croatia, PM Plenković said…

ZAGREB, 15 Dec 2021 - Several dozens gathered in St. Mark's Square in Zagreb on Wednesday morning to rally against COVID vaccines and the draft amendments of the Contagious Diseases Act, which the Croatian parliament is supposed to adopt later in the day. The protesters rallied outside the government and the parliament to express their opposition against the vaccines against coronavirus. One of the protesters shouted that she had not got vaccinated against that COVID disease and that she would not allow the immunization of her child with that experimental vaccine. She also told media outlets and reporters not to label them…