Politics

ZAGREB, 22 March, 2021 - The State Election Commission (DIP) on Monday reminded political parties and independent slates to respect the principle of gender equality and balanced representation of men and women on lists of candidates for members of representative bodies of municipalities, towns and counties in May's local elections. In doing so, they must take care that the representation of one sex on a list is not below 40%, DIP said. It recalled that respect for the principle of balanced representation of men and women on electoral slates did not affect the validity of those slates and that they would not…

ZAGREB, 22 March, 2021 - Physical Planning and Construction Minister Darko Horvat said on Sunday, ahead of the first anniversary of the 22 March 2020 earthquake in Zagreb, that preparations for the process of reconstruction were underway and that organised reconstruction would start in June. "The process has not come to a halt. It is complex and is proceeding slowly," the minister said in an interview with Nova TV, noting that buildings damaged in the earthquake had been prepared for demolition or reconstruction. He noted that a delay was possible if problems occurred in the procurement and appeals procedures. "But we plan to…

ZAGREB, 21 March 2021 - The parliamentary Croatian People's Party (HNS) on Sunday presented its candidate for Osijek mayor, the head of the party's branch in that eastern Slavonian city and former deputy mayor, Vladimir Ham. HNS leader Stjepan Čuraj said Ham knew how the city operated and how concrete political initiatives at the local level were shaped as well as that he was a deputy mayor during the first term of Mayor Ivan Vrkić, when numerous projects were launched. Ham said that he wanted to open Osijek to young people "because we can see that the city has been developing in an entirely…

March 21, 2021 - Dr. Samir Haj Barakat presented his political campaign for Našice mayor in the upcoming local elections, which he will run with coalition partners from the HNS and HSS. Peđa Grbin, President of the SDP, Sabina Glasovac, Vice President of the Parliament and Vice President of the SDP, Domagoj Hajduković, President of the SDP County Organization of Osijek-Baranja County and Member of the Croatian Parliament, and Romana Nikolić, Member of Parliament, all came out in support of Haj Barakat. Slobodan Kadic Samir Haj Barakat presented a strategy with a clear vision of the city as it should look…

ZAGREB, 21 March 2021- A survey on the institutional origins of deep-rooted corruption in Croatia shows that corruption does not have its origins in individuals' conduct but in the set-up of the political, legal, and economic system created in the 1990s. One of the authors of the study, Dario Čepo of the Zagreb Law School Department of Sociology and member of the GONG nongovernmental organization's council, said while presenting the survey last Monday that its authors focused on legal and political institutions to show that even if the best of persons finds employment in such a system, they cannot be immune to corruption…

ZAGREB, 20 March 2021 - The Zagreb County branches of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) said on Saturday they would run together in local elections May this year.  Social Democrat Mihael Zmajlović will run for Zagreb County head, the HSS Zagreb County branch, and the current deputy county head, Hrvoje Frankić, will run for his deputy. The two coalition candidates strongly criticized current county head Stjepan Kožić, who was elected as an HSS candidate four years ago. In the first year of his term, he left the HSS, formed his own party, and formed a coalition…

ZAGREB, 20 March 2021 - The chair of the parliamentary Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System, Dražen Bošnjaković (HDZ), on Saturday dismissed President Zoran Milanović's claim that the ruling HDZ party was obstructing changes in the judiciary. "If anyone has introduced changes in the judiciary, that's the government led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković," Bošnjaković said, adding that numerous changes had been introduced and that a change at the helm of the Supreme Court alone did not mean a reform. Milanović's statement was prompted by the parliament's decision on Friday to confirm the opinion of its Constitution and Standing Orders Committee…

ZAGREB, 20 March 2021 - The leader of the Democratic Alliance of Serbs and deputy mayor of Vukovar, Srđan Milaković, said on Friday that the discussion in the Croatian parliament on the bill on civilian victims of the 1991-1995 Homeland War showed "an uncivilized attitude of right-wing parties towards Serb victims in Croatia." Under the proposal, civilian victims who could not exercise their rights under the present law would do so under the new law. The law would also cover civilians injured in mine explosions or the use of firearms during the period between 17 August 1990 and 30 June…

March 20, 2021 - Mass tourism in Croatia is disastrous, and investments in it unsustainable says Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout. In an interview with Hina, Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout from the GreenLeft said that Croatia's investment in mass tourism is unsustainable and that it could destroy Croatian tourism in the long run, reports Jutarnji List. Eickhout understands large investments in mass tourism "from the perspective of quick earnings" but believes that such an investment is not profitable in the long run. "I am not sure that such an investment is profitable in the long run. You will see that people are…

March the 20th, 2021 - The much talked about EU Green Certificates which will allow for easier travel within the bloc are already posing potential issues for Croatian tourism and they haven't even been agreed upon or approved yet. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak/Marija Crnjak writes, which vaccine will be accepted on the digital EU Green Certificates for travel is the main dilemma that arose the very day after the European Commission (EC) presented its idea for this model of free travel within the borders of the European Union (EU). In addition to the above, it isn't yet entirely clear how…