Politics

ZAGREB, 28 February 2021 - GLAS party leader Anka Mrak Taritaš, who is a city councillor in Zagreb, on Sunday sent letters of condolences to the family and associates of the deceased mayor Milan Bandic, describing him as a distinctive politician. Mrak Taritaš says that Milan Bandić has definitely left a mark not only in Zagreb but also in the whole of Croatia. "He was a distinctive and different, and the history will make an analysis (of his legacy)," she added. Mrak Taritaš underscored that Bandić was unsparing in his work and obviously this has taken a toll on his health. Zagreb…

February the 27th, 2021 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic has worked to clear up doubts surrounding the continued job preservation/economic aid which has been being paid out to Croatian companies and which is due to expire on Monday. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian Prime Minister reported that the European Council had discussed the need to speed up the delivery of coronavirus vaccines. He recalled the fact that Croatia had ordered 6.8 million doses of vaccine, more than is needed for all of its adult residents. "It's currently estimated that about 8 percent of adult citizens have been vaccinated…

ZAGREB, 26 February, 2021 - Accelerating COVID-19 vaccine distribution for the EU is the most important conclusion of the summit at which it was decided that talks on green passes would continue, while today it was agreed to strengthen the European defence strategy, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Friday. "The main pressure on the European Commission leadership from all presidents and prime ministers... in talks with the key pharmaceutical companies with which the EU signed contracts, is to accelerate vaccine distribution," he told the press after an EU summit. "We were all, including me, unanimous and very firm…

ZAGREB, 26 February, 2021 - The job-retention measure will continue in March, which will cost the state between HRK 300 and 400 million, and the reimbursement of fixed costs will also continue, it was said on Friday after a meeting between representatives of Croatia's government and employers. Labour and Pension System Minister Josip Aladrović believes that the continuation of job-retention measures will help to prevent mass layoffs. He also underscored that his data showed that there had been no mass layoffs so far. In addition to the job-retention measure, which is quite similar to the conditions that applied to January and…

ZAGREB, 26 February, 2021 - Opposition parties said on Friday that the record GDP fall of 8.4% in 2020 was due to the coronavirus crisis as well as the lack of appropriate measures to bail out entrepreneurs and the government's unwillingness to abolish parafiscal levies and put the system of public procurement in order. Social Democratic Party (SDP) political secretary and MP Mirela Ahmetović said this was the biggest GDP fall since Croatia declared independence and that it was to have been expected. "Now, it's important to see how the government will react to that fall, what it will do to revive the economy and if…

ZAGREB, 26 February, 2021 - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited the city of Petrinja on Friday, saying that Turkey, which was one of the first countries to send relief aid to the quake-affected areas in Croatia, was willing to continue helping this region. Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman thanked Turkey for the rapid response and delivery of generous humanitarian assistance. Immediately after the 29 December 6.2 strong quake in Sisak-Moslavina County, which claimed seven lives and caused extensive damage, Turkey sent 272 heaters and 480 tents to the affected region. The Turkish minister recalled that after Izmir was hit by a…

February the 26th, 2021 - The Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Maric has stated that more is set to be revealed about the extension of the government's economic support packages to Croatian enterprises in the coming days. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, after a government session, Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Maric commented on the economic measures set out for businesses in order to help them preserve jobs and keep their heads above water after those measures are relaxed on Monday. "We're going to continue our dialogues with the representatives of all economic activities that are still influenced by these measures. We'll talk…

ZAGREB, 26 February, 2021 - Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia on Thursday signed a military cooperation plan for 2021, the Bosnian Defence Ministry said. The document was signed by Bosnian Assistance Defence Minister Zoran Šajinović and Croatia's Military Attaché to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brigadier Davor Kiralj. The plan provides for 27 joint activities in Croatia and 14 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The activities include military education and training, exercises and high-level meetings. Šajinović and Kiralj expressed their satisfaction with the cooperation between the armed forces and defence ministries of the two countries with a view to further promoting good neighbourly…

ZAGREB, 25 February, 2021 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Peđa Grbin on Thursday urged the government to define clear and quantifiable criteria when adopting epidemiological measures so that people and enterprises could know beforehand what they could expect. "It is excellent that indoor sports training is allowed. It should have been allowed much sooner because all indicators show that it never was a source of infection. If we know how important doing sports is for the health of individuals and the nation in general, easing the measures in this regard is clearly good and I do not see any problem…

ZAGREB, 25 February, 2021 - Recapping the year-long fight against COVID-19, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday the government had taken appropriate measures and done its best to protect people's health, thanking people for behaving responsibly and understanding a situation no one could have predicted. The first coronavirus case in Croatia was registered a year ago today. Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Plenković said that from day one the necessary protective equipment had been provided and the continuation of education and activities in culture and the arts taken into account. The economy has been taken into account the entire time, he said. "Job-retention measures have been…