Politics

September 17, 2021 - The DANUP-2-Gas Project, developing renewable energy opportunities for all Danube countries, is set to hold a stakeholder event on September 28 at the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Engineering and Computing (FER). The beautiful Danube region in Slavonia, apart from boasting natural beauty, also has a lot of historical and archaeological significance. This is evident with the European Commission having recognised the ''Iron Age Danube Route'' earlier this year. That being said, the Danube river also boasts a political and economic factors, the one that unites all the countries through which the Danube flows. One form of such…

September the 17th, 2021 - One concern for many that comes with Croatian Eurozone accession is price hikes. Just how much will prices rise, and will it be overall or only in regard to certain items? As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the controversy over Croatian Eurozone accession, aside from solely political views, boils down to a debate on whether prices will rise, and if so, by how much. According to data obtained by Jutarnji list from the Croarian National Bank (CNB), it can be expected that after the conversion from the kuna to the euro, people will very likely have to…

ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - The Croatian Journalists Association (HND) on Thursday condemned threats against reporters covering an anti-maskers' protest outside a school in Krapinske Toplice, calling for promptly "putting an end to the violence that threatens to turn into a lynching campaign" and for protecting journalists. The HND said the violence outside the primary school in Krapinske Toplice jeopardized primarily students and teachers and that it was escalating into threats against reporters who were doing their job professionally. "We condemn threats against our colleague Ivan Kovačić, who was the first to report about the situation in Krapinske Toplice, where protesters have been…

ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - Croatian President Zoran Milanović on Thursday received his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Đukanović and after the meeting, Milanović told the press that he supported the modern, civic and open Montenegro. Commenting on the rising political and ethnic tensions triggered off by the recent inauguration of a Serbian Orthodox Church bishop in the Montenegrin city of Cetinje, Milanović said that the Montenegrin head of state was expected to pay a reciprocal visit to Zagreb anyway, however, "the latest developments in Montenegro have accelerated it to happen."  Đukanović's visit ensued the day after the opposition parties, led by Đukanović's Democratic…

ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - The government on Thursday adopted a conclusion on amending 46 laws and 72 regulations until 15 July 2022  as part of the roadmap for the euro changeover process. Finance Minister Zdravko Marić informed the cabinet that in the last month, the competent agencies had itemized a total of 118 laws and regulations which should be amended within the national plan for the adoption of the euro. The time frame for Croatia's admission to the euro area in 2023 thus entails the amending of the necessary legislation until 15 July 2022. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković recalled that…

ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - Labour Minister Josip Aladrović informed the parliament on Thursday that despite all the challenges, Croatia had registered roughly 50,000 more pension insurees at the end of August than a year before and also 9,000 more than at the end of August 2019. Minister Aladrović underscored these figures while presenting the draft amendments to the minimum wage legislation, which were supported by lawmakers. The draft amendments envisage the stipulation of the gross minimum wage and also fines for employers who pay wages lower than the defined minimum wage. Commenting on trends in gross minimum monthly payments,…

September 16, 2021 - Will there be visa-free travel for Croatians to the USA by the end of the year? Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is making the final decision on Croatia's readiness to join the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).  Croatian citizens could travel to the United States without visas as early as the end of this year, said a US Homeland Security official who is in Croatia this week to make a final assessment of Croatia's readiness to enter the visa-free regime, reports HRT. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will make the final decision on Croatia's readiness to join the…

ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - Abolishing the second pension pillar could, in the long run, result in higher public expenditure for pensions and a lower standard for pensioners, the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency's board chairman, Ante Žigman, said on Wednesday.  Addressing a conference, organised by the Hanza Media company on pensions, Žigman said that the pension reform was the biggest economic reform in Croatia's recent history and that it had been lasting for 20 years and had shown huge resilience, while being supported by both left and right governments. He underscored that at the end of August the net assets of the mandatory pension funds…

ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - Police in the northwestern Krapina-Zagorje County have filed misdemeanor charges against eight persons protesting outside a primary school in Krapinske Toplice against the obligation for children to wear face masks in school.  The police have filed 26 reports and they refer to an attempt to disturb the public peace, unreported public assembly in a place where public assemblies are not allowed, refusal to wear a protective mask indoors, and refusal to show police one's ID card. Police also reported that a child's parents were reported for offences against the Identification Card Act and the Act on the…

ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday during the national parliament's Question Time that it was reasonable for Croatia that entered the EU in 2013 to switch to the euro nine and a half years after its admission to the Union. "It seems a reasonable time frame to me for a country that joined the Union on 1 July 2013 to adopt the euro on 1 January 2023, that is nine and a half years," Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in response to the question from Marko Milanović Litre (Croatian Sovereignists) whether the citizens should be…