Politics

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - Prime Minister and Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) leader Andrej Plenković said on Tuesday that SDP chief Peđa Grbin's comment on Plenković's reaction to a Rijeka cafe owner's Facebook post on barring HDZ members from entering his establishment was "pathetic and politically misplaced." "Grbin's statement is pathetic, erroneous, wrong, incorrect, and totally politically misplaced," Plenković said in Šibenik when asked by the press for his opinion on Grbin's comment. "It would have been better had he condemned the statement of that gentleman from the 'Three Monkeys' cafe," Plenković said, adding that Grbin had probably failed to follow the developments and had become involved in the whole affair…

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Tuesday that Croatia was slowly but surely entering the second stage of COVID-19 vaccination, covering older people with chronic conditions. Speaking to the press at a vaccination point in Zagreb, Beroš said he was "sure that such mass vaccination points will absolutely support the realisation of our vaccination plan and programme." He said vaccination points were "necessary, perhaps not at the moment because we still don't have the quantities we are expecting." Beroš said larger vaccine quantities would enhance attempts to vaccinate priority groups and underlined the plan to vaccinate over…

ZAGREB, 23 February 2021 - The HRK 20 million Adriatic Business Centre, fully financed with EU funds, was opened in Šibenik on Tuesday in the presence of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković who said that Šibenik-Knin County has obtained a modern office building that will be an incubator of innovative ideas. Plenković was accompanied by Economy Minister Tomislav Ćorić, Justice and Administration Minister Ivan Malenica and Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak. "Šibenik-Knin County has obtained a contemporary office building for about 50 entrepreneurs and it will become an incubator of innovative ideas," Plenković told the opening ceremony. The business centre is intended for small and…

ZAGREB, 22 February, 2021 - Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on Monday suggested that some space for dialogue with Russia should remain open, speaking ahead of a European Union Foreign Affairs Council meeting, with the latest developments concerning EU-Russia relations being one of the topics on the agenda. "In any case, dialogue is very important, it is one of our instruments, and we must provide some space for dialogue on the issues pertaining to our interests," Grlić Radman said in Brussels ahead of the start of the council's meeting. The meeting is expected to pave the way towards imposing sanctions on Russia over the detainment of the chief…

ZAGREB, 22 February, 2021 - Construction Minister Darko Horvat said on Monday that he would recommend to the post-earthquake reconstruction fund's steering council, which he chairs, to appoint the fund's temporary director Damir Vanđelić as director. Speaking in an interview with N1 television, Horvat said the name of the fund's new director would be made public tomorrow afternoon. He confirmed that the call for applications for the position would not be annulled. "Points were given based on public criteria. If we make such a decision at the steering council session, the fund will have its director, and that will be Mr Vanđelić." Horvat said…

ZAGREB, 21 February, 2021 - So far 12 candidacies have been announced for the post of Zagreb Mayor, and in local elections set for May this year 11 candidates will try to remove from that post current Mayor Milan Bandić, who has been serving for more than 20 years and who will also run in the elections. Despite the fact that he is burdened by scandals and ongoing trials, the 65-year-old Bandić announced his candidacy for his seventh term in office already during the campaign for parliamentary elections held in July 2020. Among the first to announce his candidacy was…

ZAGREB, 19 February, 2021 - SDP vice-presidents Siniša Hajdaš Dončić and Biljana Borzan on Friday announced an initiative in the European Parliament that would force multinational companies to pay taxes where they operate, stressing that the Croatian government does not want to support the initiative. That way, the government is shifting the burden of the crisis onto citizens, they said. According to the latest figures, 10% of the EU's total GDP is stolen, hidden or unfairly distributed, and the populist movements that call for tax cuts have at their core the wish to enable the rich in the business sector to pay…

ZAGREB, 19 February, 2021 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković was visiting Vukovar-Srijem County on Friday, where she presented contracts on the co-financing of projects from the Rural Development Programme and said that Croatian agriculture has shown resilience. Citing Croatian Bureau of Statistics estimates, she said in Vukovar that agricultural production grew by 7% or HRK 1.4 billion in 2020, the highest increase since 2008, while gross added value and factor and entrepreneurial incomes increased between 14 and 16%. Those figures show that Croatian agriculture is not on a bad path, that domestic producers are resilient and creative, and that the Rural Development Programme is showing results, the minister said. "We…

ZAGREB, 19 February, 2021 - President Zoran Milanović has announced that he will not support any of the three candidates running for President of the Supreme Court and that he will reveal the name of his candidate shortly. "I will not accept any of those persons. It's nothing personal. This is a serious deviation in constitutional practice and custom," Milanović said in an exclusive interview with the commercial television channel Nova TV on Thursday evening marking his first year in office. "I have been thinking about this for a while, talking about it and trying to keep it discreet. I…

February the 19th, 2021 - Croatian Finance Minister Maric has spoken of his confidence of how Croatian negotiations are progressing in relation to the payout of European Union (EU) funds. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Finance Minister Maric has stated that intensive communication is being undertaken and is currently taking place, with 45 meetings having been held so far with all departments involved in them.  ''Just as it is for all European Union member states, Croatia is obliged to send the final version of the document regarding their payout by the end of April this year,'' stated Finance Minister Maric. "After…