Politics

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah was marked officially in the Croatian parliament on Thursday, by lighting the Hanukkah candles. The event, organized by the Croatia-Israel interparliamentary friendship group, was attended by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković, Israeli Ambassador Ilan Mor, Deputy Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner, and the head of the Croatia-Israel interparliamentary friendship group, Marijana Petir, who lit the candles. Jandroković said he had witnessed the development of the Croatia-Israeli relations since the early 1990s, when, he said, "we did not understand each other so well", to the present day, when "those relations are the best ever,…

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - The idea of compulsory vaccination against coronavirus is not yet on the government's agenda, however, anti-epidemic measures will depend on the epidemiological situation, Croatian Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Thursday. The minister did not rule out the possibility of the fifth wave of the pandemic hitting Croatia if the country failed to reach the necessary vaccination rate. "We have been emphasizing all along that vaccination is voluntary, and we have not considered the vaccination mandate. Since the onset of the pandemic we have been saying that all the measures are on the table and that epidemiological developments shape…

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - The opposition on Thursday criticized the government's proposal to fine HRK 30,000 to 50,000 those not checking COVID certificates, asking that parliament decide on such measures by a two-thirds majority and some MPs saying they would ask the Constitutional Court for its opinion. Arsen Bauk of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said the SDP would not support the proposal because the party believed that the way in which the national COVID-19 crisis management team was making decisions during this crisis was not good. "We are still of the opinion that when restricting human rights, decisions should be made by the Croatian parliament,…

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Changes to the Act on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, sent on Thursday by the government to the parliament for consideration under a fast-track procedure, envisage fines for responsible persons not complying with the COVID-19 certificate mandate in bodies governed by public law.  The fines range between HRK 30,000 and 50,000. The changes specify the bodies governed by public law in charge of implementing measures from the said law as well as responsible persons in those bodies - leader of a body of state authority, leader of a body of state administration and other state body, county head,…

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said at a government session on Thursday that the number of new coronavirus infections was down 14.5% from the previous week and that the number of hospitalizations was also slightly smaller even though pressure on the health system was still significant. The test positivity rate in the past 24 hours was 38.35%, a drop of 14.5% compared to last week and 26.5% compared to two weeks ago. A total of 2,391 people are hospitalized, which is a slight decrease in the number of hospitalizations. In the past 24 hours, 30 people were put…

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Conflict of Interest Commission chair Nataša Novaković said on Thursday she would be surprised if GRECO, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body, gave a positive assessment of the conflict of interest bill currently in the first reading in parliament. Speaking to the press, Novaković said she would be surprised because the bill did not show that Croatia had acted on GRECO's recommendations. "Those who know how to read GRECO's report and the bill think it's quite clear that the essential recommendations haven't been complied with. Whether they have or not, we'll see when we get the report." Novaković said that…

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - The Bridge party's parliamentary deputy, Marija Selak Raspudić, on Thursday called on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Education Minister Radovan Fuchs to ensure that undergraduates can undergo free testing for coronavirus so that they can attend university classes without additional costs. The decision that it is up to faculties to decide on their own whether students are required to have COVID certificates to enter the premises of the faculties has caused chaos on the ground, the MP said. She explained that in the event of the COVID-19 certificate mandate, unvaccinated students would have to pay for their…

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - Addressing an international conference on creative industries, Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek said on Thursday that during the COVID-19 pandemic, over HRK 900 million (€120 million) had been provided for the cultural and creative sectors to help them cope with the corona crisis. The minister said that the government, in cooperation with associations, had responded promptly and drawn up a set of measures to help the creative industry in coping with the consequences of the COVID1-19 pandemic. Of the HRK  900 million, HRK 300 million was earmarked for the development of the cultural and creative sectors.…

ZAGREB, 2 Dec 2021 - The Croatian Parliament will begin next week's session already on Monday after 475 amendments have been submitted to the 2022 budget proposal, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković announced at the start of the Parliament session on Thursday.  The amendments will be discussed on Monday and Tuesday and the budget proposal will be put to a vote on Wednesday, Jandroković said. Lawmakers discussed the budget proposal all day on Wednesday, with opposition MPs saying that the budget is unrealistic and impracticable in the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic and the ruling majority claiming the opposite. The 2022 budget…

ZAGREB, 1 December, 2021 - PM Andrej Plenković told opposition MPs in a debate on the state budget on Wednesday that their demagoguery and vilification of the ruling HDZ party will not work, and commenting on a recent murder in Split said that he cannot prevent violent crimes but the law can be made stricter. "The ruling in the Fimi Media case has been upheld, and the Rimac case went public five weeks before parliamentary elections, that's how well I control the judiciary. That kind of demagoguery and untruths won't work," he told independent MP Karolina Vidović Krišto, who said that…