Politics

ZAGREB, 8 July 2021 - State Secretary in the Central State Office for Croats Abroad Zvonko Milas met in Tivat on Wednesday with representatives of Croatian associations, the head of the Tivat Municipality, and the president of the Tivat Municipal Assembly. "Relations with the Croat community in Tivat are open, honest, and are constantly progressing. The fact that the Croatian Civic Initiative is not part of the local government is no obstacle to good cooperation and achieving goals that are in the interest of the Croatian community," said Tivat Municipality head Željko Komnenović, recalling a series of activities that testify to…

ZAGREB, 8 July 2021 - Croatia has met all the conditions to Schengen, it is said in a resolution of the European Parliament adopted on Thursday in which Croatia is also urged to address shortcomings in terms of providing border staff with training and to persist in a thorough assessment of respect for fundamental rights. During a visit to Croatia in November 2020, the Commission reaffirmed that the necessary conditions for the application of the Schengen acquis had been met, it is said in the resolution of the European Parliament, adopted with 505 votes in favor, 134 against, and 54 abstentions.…

ZAGREB, 7 July, 2021 - MP Dragana Jeckov of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) said on Wednesday that there are "definitely" no segregated schools or exclusively Serb schools in Croatia, let alone a segregated state education system. Jeckov made the statement in parliament following statements in the media by "quasi-reformists of minority education," primarily the one conducted in the Serbian language and Cyrillic script. "Certain myths need to be debunked," she said, including the one that Serbs in Croatia have separate schools and that they are being taught from textbooks from Serbia, based on the so-called Serbian programme. "In Croatia, there…

ZAGREB, 7 July, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Wednesday strongly condemned the violence that had occurred after the LGTBIQ Pride Parade in Zagreb on Saturday.  "That is unacceptable, Croatia is a free country and everyone should be what they are. Human rights and the rights of all minorities, including sexual minorities, should be respected," Plenković said in an interview with Croatian Radio. "Croatia is big enough for everyone to be free," he stressed. Plenković recalled that Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Human Rights Boris Milošević had also condemned the physical assaults on members of the LGBTIQ…

ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - Zagreb's new city administration decided on Tuesday to reorganise by reducing the number of city departments from the current 27 to 16 as of 31 October. Reorganising the city departments was an important part of the new administration's election platform. Under today's decision, 11 departments will be shut down and their jobs will be done by other city administration bodies, while some administration bodies will be abolished and replaced with a single administrative body. "The purpose of the new organisation of the City Administration is to make it publicly accountable and efficient," the new administration said, announcing enhanced…

ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović on Tuesday received Igor Simčić, head of the Esimit Europa project, which has been promoting for 26 years the European idea of unity by connecting sports, diplomacy, business and culture, the President's Office said in a press release. The project has gained global recognition thanks to the many successes of the Esimit Europa 2 sailing yacht, which took part in competitions under the European flag and with an international European crew, spreading the message about the successes of the united Europe. Simčić acquainted the President with the previous activities and successes as well…

ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - The whip of the ruling HDZ, Branko Bačić, said on Tuesday the parties of the parliamentary majority supported amendments to the Trade Act, adding that shopping hours would be adjusted to seasonal activities. Parliament will debate the amendments in the autumn. Speaking to the press after a meeting of the parliamentary majority, Bačić said they talked about the problem of restricting shopping hours until 9 pm, notably during the summer tourist season, when they have the biggest turnover. "We must take account of the international convention on the rights of shop workers to daily and weekly rest," Bačić said,…

ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - The Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO) said on Tuesday that the number of pension insurance contributions had been on the rise for five months in a row, and the number of insurees was higher by 3.54% at the end of this June compared to June 2020. At the end of this June, the contributions were paid by 1,596,112 insurees, or by 54,499 people more than the year before. Broken down by sector, the highest number of pension insurees was registered in the processing industry (more than 246,000 people covered by insurance contributions). The rise in the number…

ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - Investment in private equity in Croatia stands at 0.3% of GDP, whereby it lags behind the most successful countries in that segment, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development (HBOR) CEO said on Tuesday, adding that the HBOR would participate in launching a €40 billion technology transfer fund. Tamara Perko was speaking at the Bestinvest.hr conference organised by the Croatian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, at which awards for the best private equity and venture capital investment were presented. Perko said the HBOR contributed significantly to the development of private equity and venture capital in the past two years. She…

ZAGREB, 6 July, 2021 - The Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO) said on Tuesday that the number of pension insurance contributions had been on the rise for five months in a row, and the number of insurees was higher by 3.54% at the end of this June compared to June 2020. The government-sponsored amendments were forwarded to the parliament at the session of the Andrej Plenković cabinet on 1 July. In May, there were 216,000 family pension beneficiaries, and most of them were surviving spouses whose average monthly pension allowance was HRK 2,096, which was below the average pension. For instance, in May,…