Politics

ZAGREB, 8 Sept, 2021 - Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tomislav Ćorić said on Wednesday that he does not see any reason that would lead to higher electricity and gas bills for citizens. Asked ahead of an inner cabinet meeting whether electricity and gas bills would increase, Ćorić said that he did not see any reason at the moment for that to happen. "There is no absolute certainty that that won't occur, however, I do not see any reason for it to happen," he said. In reference to an electricity price hike for enterprises, Ćorić said that one needs to be aware…

September 8, 2021 - The flood of straight-A pupils in Croatian elementary schools sadly isn't a sign of brilliance but of Croatian teachers being put under pressure by parents who want their kids to go to the best high schools in the country. The newly launched Facebook group wants to get to the bottom of fake A's, offering Croatian teachers a place for anonymous confessions. Parents naturally want their best for their children and want to see them succeed and have the best life possible. The smarter the child, the better things will be for them, many would conclude. If…

ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - The agriculture strategy envisions further investment in public services in rural areas, with an emphasis on digitisation, irrigation, renewable energy production and increasing energy efficiency, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said at an informal meeting of EU ministers. In order to succeed in that, it is essential to continue investing in human capital, the minister stressed. Minister Vučković was taking part in an informal meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council, which was held in Kranj, Slovenia on Monday and Tuesday. The Agriculture Ministry reported on Tuesday that the central topic of the meeting was strengthening…

ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - The Lučko Anti-terrorist Unit, which earned its fame on all Croatian battlefields and handles the most complex police tasks today, on Tuesday marked its 31st anniversary with a demonstration exercise. Before the exercise, wreaths were laid and candles lit at a memorial to the unit's fallen members, with Interior Minister Davor Božinović attending. "ATJ Lučko was the first organised unit and the first Croatian armed formation which protected the constitutional order, the state leadership, and which earned its wartime fame on all Croatian battlefields," he said, adding that this elite unit had always been on the front lines…

ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - The Franak association on Tuesday called on its members to send emails to members of parliament ahead of a parliamentary vote on President Zoran Milanović's candidate for Supreme Court president, Radovan Dobronić, expressing support for his election. Franak brings together former holders of loans pegged to the Swiss franc whose loans were converted to euro-denominated loans. On 4 July 2013, the Zagreb Commercial Court delivered a ruling in favour of the Consumer Protection Association which had sued eight banks with regard to the Swiss franc foreign currency clause and their unilateral decision to increase interest rates.…

ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - A network of civil society organisations called "Fourth Shift - Invisible Work" on Tuesday launched a campaign to raise awareness of women's unpaid household work and encourage the creation of public policies to achieve a work-life balance for women and men. The campaign is part of the project "The impact of public policies on the quality of family and working life and on the demographic picture of Croatia," led by the women's civil society organisation B.a.B.e. The value of the project is HRK 3.6 million (€480,000), of which 85 percent is provided by the EU…

September 7, 2021 - In a pool filled with social research supported by the Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute, Liljana Dobrovšak leads a project to explore the Croatian World War 1 Memory. The heritage and sites of memory of this horrible historical event as well as political and social background interpreting those events will be displayed on an international round table on September the 9th and 10th, 2021. As the past always keeps inviting us back to learn something new the history books overlook, events such as World War 1 require revisiting. Enter ''The First World War in the Culture of…

ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - Protecting the environment contributes to prosperity, particularly in tourist countries like Croatia, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković said in Vienna on Tuesday. "The pandemic has taught us the importance of multilateralism. We have to step up our global efforts in the fight against climate change and stimulate green transition and economic growth," Jandroković said at the Fifth World Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's Speakers of Parliament. "Protecting the environment contributes to prosperity, particularly in countries whose economy depends on tourism, like Croatia," he said. Jandroković believes that "cooperation, changing the approach, and finding a balance between economic…

ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - Former office-holders from the area of the former Yugoslavia on Monday evening sent a letter to EU and NATO leaders, expressing concern about the situation in Montenegro and calling on them to join in active political dialogue and help resolve the crisis in that country peacefully. "One more place of conflict and crisis in Europe is the last thing Europe and the world need right now. We therefore call on EU institutions and other allies to join in active political dialogue with the different political and social stakeholders in the current crisis in Montenegro and help them…

ZAGREB, 7 Sept, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Tuesday issued separate messages offering their best wishes to the Jewish community on the occasion of the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. "I wish all the best to the Jewish community in Croatia for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot with the traditional greeting 'May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year'," Milanović said, wishing the Jewish community happiness and peace throughout the new year. Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković wished the Jewish community an abundance of health, happiness, peace and prosperity in the New Year…