Politics
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
PM Andrej Plenković: Court Should Have Ordered Precautionary Measure for Zoran Mamić
ZAGREB, 20 April, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday the Osijek County Court should have ordered a precautionary measure for former Dinamo football club coach Zoran Mamić, who went to Bosnia and Herzegovina after being sentenced in Croatia and applied for serving his prison term there. Speaking to the press in Rijeka, Plenković said "the Justice Ministry was very clear about ordering precautionary measures for some convicts. The competent court of first instance could and should have ordered a precautionary measure given the circumstances." "If our judiciary thinks that this option at their disposal is in any way insufficient or not clear enough and that it should…
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
Ministry of Finance Sells HRK 2.34 Bn Worth of Treasury Bonds
ZAGREB, 20 April, 2021 - The Croatian Ministry of Finance sold HRK 2.34 billion worth of treasury bonds, which was by 139 million kuna higher than planned, at an auction on Tuesday,with an interest rate of a mere 0.02% for one-year-long bonds. In advance of the maturity of HRK 2.55 billion worth of treasury bonds, the Ministry offered HRK 2.2 billion for subscription, HRK 2 billion with a maturity of one year and HRK 200 million with six months' maturity. Financial institutions submitted bids totalling HRK 2.34 billion and the Ministry accepted all of them. The Ministry issued HRK 2.34 billion worth of treasury bonds with a maturity…
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
Reporters without Borders (RSF): Press Freedom Deteriorates in World While Croatia Sees Progress
ZAGREB, 20 April, 2021 - The Reporters without Borders (RSF) association has reported that the pandemic has led to a dramatic deterioration of media freedom worldwide, while its latest index shows that the situation has improved in Croatia. Croatia ranks 56th out of 180 countries on the organisation’s annual Press Freedom Index, moving up three notches after ranking 59th in the previous report. The organisation's latest report, released on Tuesday, reads that "Croatian journalists who investigate corruption, organised crime or war crimes are often subjected to harassment campaigns." "Defamation is criminalised and insulting 'the Republic, its emblem, its national hymn or flag' is…
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
EU Ministers, Including Croatian FM Gordan Grlić Radman, Exchange Views on Ukraine, Ethiopia
ZAGREB, 20 April, 2021 - The EU member-states' foreign ministers, including Croatia's Gordan Grlić Radman, on Monday expressed concern over the situation in Ethiopia, and also over the Russian activities at the Ukrainian border and in Crimea. The developments in Ukraine and in Ethiopia were the main topics of the informal video conference of foreign affairs ministers on Monday afternoon, and the Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba also joined them. "Ministers reiterated their strong support to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, including to the non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. They…
Monday, 19 April 2021
PM: Revitalisation to Lead to Development of Sisak-Moslavina County
ZAGREB, 19 April, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday that a programme to revitalise Sisak-Moslavina County would enable its demographic revival, economic development, social inclusion and better transport connectivity, and he also supported a project to revive local spa tourism. Plenković was visiting Topusko, a town in Sisak-Moslavina County, where he attended a meeting of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December earthquake in the county. He said that at the meeting a project was presented to build a smart spa town to help Topusko become of the centres of medical tourism in the country.…
Monday, 19 April 2021
SDP Plans No-Confidence Vote in Health Minister
ZAGREB, 19 April, 2021 - The Social Democratic Party plans to talk with other opposition parties this week about a no-confidence vote in Health Minister Vili Beroš due to the many problems and omissions in his department, with SDP leader Peđa Grbin saying on Monday it was his "obligation to react to such obscenities." Speaking to Hina, he said that if for no other reason, Beroš should be given a vote of no confidence because recently hospitals remained without drugs. Grbin said "the debt in healthcare has reached unbelievable levels" and mentioned "the disorder" with the online platform for COVID-19 vaccination, adding also…
Monday, 19 April 2021
MOST: Beroš Not Only One Responsible for Situation in Health System
ZAGREB, 19 April, 2021 - The opposition MOST party on Monday called for an urgent reform of the health system, saying that Health Minister Vili Beroš was not the only one to blame for the bad situation in that sector and that the entire government and PM Andrej Plenković were also responsible. "Recent statements by Finance Minister Zdravko Marić in the parliament are a result of an order to find the scapegoat for the situation in the health system, and that is Health Minister Vili Beroš, who a few months ago was a superhero, a result of the government's PR…
Sunday, 18 April 2021
FM: Croatia Is a Friend of BiH, Against Balkan Borders Redrawing
April 18, 2021 - Croatia is not running away from outstanding issues in the relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and the redrawing of Balkan borders. Croatia wants to address them just as it sincerely wants to help preserve that country's stability and its Euro-Atlantic path, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman said on Sunday. In an interview for the radio Sarajevo web portal, Grlić Radman said that his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina this week and talks with the country's highest officials took place positively and encouraging atmosphere. "There is no doubt that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia are economically, culturally,…
Sunday, 18 April 2021
Zagreb Mayoral Candidate: Wide Coalition Will Be Needed in City Assembly
April 18, 2021 - Zagreb mayoral candidate, Vesna Škare Ožbolt, has said that that it will be challenging to have a majority in the City Assembly after the 16 May local elections, so at a moment when Zagreb is faced with a crisis, she sees a need for a big coalition of all political blocs in the assembly. Škare Ožbolt said that carrying out projects such as Zagreb on the River Sava and the leveling of the railway tracks would take more than four years, but she would launch them during the first term. There is still money even in these times…
Sunday, 18 April 2021
Croatia Local Elections To Cost Over €13.3m, Says State Election Commission Rep
April 18, 2021 - The upcoming Croatia local elections on 16 May should cost over 100 million. A member of the State Election Commission (DIP), Slaven Hojski, said on Saturday, announcing that the Croatian Public Health Institute (HZJZ) would issue recommendations for local elections. "These are costly elections," Hojski said in an interview with the HRT public broadcaster, underscoring that the elections will be held in two rounds: on 16 May and the runoffs for mayors and county heads two weeks later, 30 May. Hojski told the HRT broadcaster that the government had endorsed the DIP''s proposal to increase fees for…
Saturday, 17 April 2021
Zagreb Mayoral Candidates Comment on Health Minister, Deals with IT firms
ZAGREB, 17 April 2021 - Some of the Zagreb mayoral candidates have commented on Health Minister Vili Beroš's statements about the reform of the health system and debts to drug wholesalers and his ministry's business deals with firms involved in designing a platform for registration for COVID-19 vaccination. The mayoral candidates commented on Beroš at separate news conferences held on Saturday, at which they spoke about their platforms for the 16 May local election. Tomislav Tomašević, the mayoral candidate of the Zagreb is Ours/We Can! platform, said that Beroš's position had been shaken. "He serves, in a way, as the prime…
