Politics

ZAGREB, 6 April, 2021 - The president of the Croatian Association of Social Workers, Štefica Karačić, asked on Monday where the responsibility of Social Policy Minister Josip Aladrović was in the case of the deceased two-and-a-half-year-old girl from Nova Gradiška. The (local welfare centre's) director was dismissed and then, in a week, it was forgotten that the centre needs other forms of help and support to work in such a complex and difficult area of activity as child protection, Karačić told the Nova TV commercial broadcaster, and she asked why the minister wouldn't also be removed, if the responsibility was hierarchical. She told Nova…

April 5, 2021 - Aco Momčilović, psychologist, EMBA, Owner of FutureHR, and Ph.D. Student at the University of Dubrovnik interviews Mirko Sardelić, Ph.D., Research Associate at the Department of Historical Studies HAZU, Honorary Research Fellow of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions (Europe 1100-1800) at The University of Western Australia, and formerly a visiting scholar at the universities of Cambridge, Paris (Sorbonne), Columbia, and Harvard. Arguably, one country could claim to have been the most successful and powerful in the world. It would be the United Kingdom, in the year 1900. No other country would ever be…

April the 3rd, 2021 - The government has increased the sum of financial aid intended for the Croatian earthquake reconstruction process. Here are the new amounts and procedure details. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the financial aid for the reconstruction/rehabilitation of non-structural elements on property damaged in the earthquake is now being increased from the previous 12,000 kuna to 16,000 kuna. This will regard family homes, residential and commercial buildings, apartment buildings and office buildings. If such an application for these funds regards a family house without special parts needing other forms of more specialist attention, the increase is 25,000 kuna.…

ZAGREB, 2 April, 2021 - Croatia is the only EU member state outside the euro area to have recorded a decrease in hourly labour costs in 2020, a Eurostat report shows. Last year, hourly labour costs rose by an average of 3.1% in the EU and by 2.9% in the euro area. Among the non-euro area countries, the highest increases in hourly labour costs expressed in the national currency were observed in Hungary (+7.9%), Bulgaria (+7.8%), the Czech Republic (+7.4%) and Romania (+7.2%). The lowest increases were registered in Sweden (+1.1%) and Denmark (+2.0%).  Croatia was the only non-euro area…

April the 2nd, 2021 - Croatian Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic has spoken out publicly about the continued government efforts to help companies keep their heads above water as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. This state aid includes economic help and so-called job preservation measures. Aladrovic stated that they can't simply go on forever. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic was a recent guest on Dnevnik N1, where he spoke about the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and what it means for the country as the pandemic continues. To begin with, he said the plan envisions 54 percent of…

ZAGREB, 1 April, 2021 - The National Recovery and Resilience Plan for 2021-26 is the government's plan for the reform and transformation of Croatia, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday, presenting the plan after a cabinet meeting. Investment in education, science and research, labour and welfare legislation, healthcare and post-earthquake reconstruction is estimated at HRK 18 billion. The plan will contribute to the development of a quality education and science system, the stimulation of excellence and innovativeness in children, youth and scientists, and the creation of new and innovative employment policies, Plenković told press. The plan will also contribute to enhancing…

ZAGREB, 1 April, 2021 - Croatia's general government debt reached HRK 329.7 billion at the end of 2020, an increase of 12.6% compared with the end of 2019, with the general government debt to GDP ratio rising to 89.1%, the latest Croatian National Bank (HNB) data shows. At the end of December 2020, the general government debt increased by HRK 526 million (+0.16%) from the previous month and by 36.8 billion (+12.6%) from December 2019. At the end of last year the total debt amounted to 89.1% of the annual GDP, compared to 72.8% at the end of 2019. The general…

ZAGREB, 1 April, 2021 - On the occasion of the 12th anniversary of Croatia's admission to NATO, Defence Minister Mario Banožić stated on Thursday that his country proved to be a trustworthy and reliable ally and partner. "Over these 12 years since it became a full member of NATO, Croatia has proven to be a trustworthy and reliable ally and partner," the minister said in his message on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of Croatia's entry into the alliance. Croatia participates actively and on an equal footing in the alliance's decision-making and its troops, together with troops from other member…

ZAGREB, 31 March, 2021 - Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac said on Wednesday that clear entry criteria for Croatia were being prepared according to European Commission recommendations for travel across borders, which will probably be - recovered from COVID-19, vaccination or a PCR or antigen test. Asked by reporters ahead of an inner cabinet meeting what she thinks of the measures by the national COVID response team and how the deteriorated epidemiological situation is being reflected on tourism and bookings, Minister Brnjac said that as soon as the European Commission released its draft recommendations on travel restrictions, Croatia immediately started working on clear…

ZAGREB, 31 March, 2021 - Croatia has donated 100 books for the new capital of Egypt, Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman, who is on a two-day visit to that country, said on Wednesday. Croatia has donated 100 books for the new capital city, to be located somewhere between Cairo and the Red Sea, to strengthen cultural cooperation between the two countries, said Grlić Radman. Egypt is building a new capital city to reduce pressure on the overpopulated Cairo. The books handed over by Minister Grlić Radman were donated by the Croatian ministries of culture and media, science and education, and foreign and…