Politics

ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - Currently there are 172 political parties entered in Croatia's registry of political parties, the Večernji List (VL) daily reported on Thursday, while commenting that it seems that the less trust in politicians, the higher number of registered political parties Croatia has. At the end of 2020, there were 168 political parties formally registered. From 31 April to 30 November 2021, nine parties were added to the registry, and 14 were erased from the list. The latest entry in the registry is "Grobnička stranka" led by Suzana Šebalja Colnar, and the headquarters are in Žeželovo Selo in the…

December the 10th, 2021 - There has been a debate going on about a potential Croatian Sunday work ban for longer than the coronavirus pandemic has been around, with some vehemently opposed to it and others believing that the move would be a good one. With opinion divided, the topic has once again found itself on the political ''to do'' list. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the draft proposal for the new Trade Act, which stipulated that shops would be able to operate on only sixteen Sundays each calendar year, will not be voted on until January the 1st, 2022 reports…

ZAGREB, 9 Dec 2021 - The European Commission has, under EU state aid rules, approved a Croatian state aid scheme for renewable electricity generation, valued at €783 million. The €783 million programme will allow Croatia to provide state aid for renewable electricity generation with the help of numerous technologies. The scheme will contribute to reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the EU's Green Deal objectives and objectives regarding environmental protection, which is part of the Croatian recovery and resilience plan without unnecessarily disturbing market competition on the single market, Executive Vice-President for Competition Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday. Croatia informed…

ZAGREB, 8 Dec, 2021 - The Croatian parliament on Wednesday passed the state budget for 2022 with projections for 2023 and 2024, with 77 MPs voting in favour, one more than the required 76, and 49 against. Parliament upheld the government's decision to accept only nine out of 450 amendments submitted - four put forward by the ruling majority and five by the opposition. The opposition amendments were tabled by the Green-Left Bloc, the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) and MPs Željko Lenart (Croatian Peasant Party), Vesna Vučemilović (Croatian Sovereignists) and Boška Ban Vlahek (Social Democratic Party). The total value of the…

ZAGREB, 8 Dec, 2021 - Independent MP Karolina Vidović Krišto was ordered to leave the Parliament chamber at the start of the session on Wednesday morning for violating the Rules of Procedure after proposing paying respects to all children killed in the 1991-1995 Homeland War.  Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković rejected her proposal, saying that such matters should be agreed in advance. After repeatedly asking Vidović Krišto to stop talking and cautioning her three times, he ordered her to leave the chamber. "This is a very delicate matter and Ms Vidović Krišto put me in a very awkward position. Children killed in the…

ZAGREB, 8 Dec, 2021 - Organisations of the families of Srebrenica genocide victims sent an open letter to Croatian President Zoran Milanović on Wednesday calling on him to respect the decisions of his own country, whose institutions have explicitly condemned the genocide of Bosnian Muslims committed by Bosnian Serb forces in July 1995. The association "Mothers from the Srebrenica and Žepa enclaves" and the Association of Genocide Victims and Witnesses said in the letter that in his recent statements Milanović had denied that the massacre of Bosniaks at Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia, was an act of genocide despite the fact that it…

ZAGREB, 8 Dec, 2021 - The Zagreb County Court on Tuesday rejected appeals by the suspects in the Software case against the investigative detention order, Hina learned from sources close to the investigation. The court ruled that former Minister for Regional Development and EU Funds Gabrijela Žalac, former Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU) director Tomislav Petric and IT company owners Mladen Šimunac and Marko Jukić would remain in custody. They are under investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of defrauding the European Union and Croatia of €1.8 million. Žalac is suspected of fixing the public procurement of…

December the 6th, 2021 - There could be a big cash injection for Croatian agriculture, which the vast majority of people working in that sector would readily explain is dearly needed... As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Republic of Croatia will send a strategic plan to the European Commission (EC) by the end of this year, which will define the direction of spending money on Croatian agriculture, according to an analysis by the consulting company Smarter from which they point out that this is a document that will largely determine the direction of development of agricultural production by the end of the…

ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 - The Iustitia et Pax Commission of the Croatian Conference of Catholic Bishops (HBK) on Monday joined Pope Francis in his appeal for getting vaccinated, explaining that the COVID-19 pandemic requires responsible behavior, including renouncing personal freedoms. The HBK commission issued a press release in which it recommends vaccination against coronavirus as an act of love, as suggested by Pope Francis in several appeals, however, the Croatian Justice and Peace Commission also warned against making use of COVID certificates as an indirect form of coercion. The press release reads that the COVID-19 pandemic caught everybody unprepared and it "often juxtaposes the fundamental values and the…

ZAGREB, 6 Dec 2021 -The government on Monday decided to remove the restriction on the fuel prices which it imposed on 14 October when it capped the price of petrol at HRK 11.10 per liter and the price of diesel at HRK 11. The 14 October decree, based on the Petroleum Products Acts, was adopted in a bid to help households to alleviate price hikes. The decision to annul the restrictions of fuel prices takes effect on Tuesday. Commenting on the purpose of the price restrictions as a measure to help citizens and businesses to cushion the price blow to…