Politics
Thursday, 18 February 2021
Amendments to Tourism Services Act Aligned with EU Directives
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - The government sent a bill of amendments to the Tourism Services Act to parliament on Thursday, which will make it possible for travellers to exchange their vouchers for travel that was cancelled after March 2020 for new arrangements or get a refund. Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac underlined that the amended law was aligned with the EU package travel and linked travel arrangements directives with regard to refunding money for travel arrangements that were not consumed after 1 March 2020 and for which travel organisations issued consumers with vouchers. "After the amendments to the law enter into force, travellers who…
Thursday, 18 February 2021
HRK 3.05bn Set Aside for Direct Payments in Agriculture for 2020
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - The government adopted a regulation on Thursday on the financial structure of the envelope for direct payments in agriculture for 2020, for which HRK 3.05 billion has been set aside. That is 6% more than for the previous production year, said Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković. Of the HRK 3.05 billion, HRK 2.63 billion comes from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and HRK 417.6 million from the 2020 and 2021 state budgets. Regulations on the financial structure of the envelope for direct payments have been adopted since 2013. The amount from the state budget is decreasing and the amount…
Thursday, 18 February 2021
FM: Visa Waiver will Facilitate Connections, Business Ties with U.S.
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021- Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman on Thursday welcomed the fact that Croatian U.S. visa denials had fallen below 3%, saying the waiving of visas would enable undisturbed travel and facilitate connections as well as development of business ties with the United States. Several months after it was confirmed that Croatia had fallen below 3% and met the key visa waiver requirement, the charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy, Victoria Taylor, said on Tuesday that 2.69% of Croatian citizens' business and tourist visa applications had been denied. "This is a sign that Croatia is in transatlantic relations at full capacity," Grlić Radman…
Thursday, 18 February 2021
Opposition Says President's First Year in Office Marked by His Character
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - The parliamentary opposition said on Thursday that President Zoran Milanović's first year in office was marked by his character but that he failed to address more citizens' real-life problems. "The first year in office was in line with expectations, in some of his public debates he gives a different view of the situation and it completes the picture, and sometimes, due to his style and cynicism, focus is shifted to things other than those intended," said Social Democrat Arsen Bauk. Considering the constitutional powers at his disposal, the president did not make any mistakes and…
Thursday, 18 February 2021
1,448 Housing Containers Set Up in Quake-Hit Area So Far
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - The head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County, Tomo Medved, has said that 1,448 housing containers and mobile homes have been set up in the area, with the task force having maximally simplified the process of applying for reconstruction. "Provision of temporary accommodation in the earthquake-hit area is still among our priorities. So far we have installed 1,448 containers and mobile homes and connected 1,656 housing units to the power grid," Medved said at a government session on Thursday. He added that 213 people whose properties were damaged…
Thursday, 18 February 2021
MP Calls for Accelerated Pension Plan for Staff Working with COVID Patients
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - Workers' Front MP Katarina Peović on Thursday called for introducing an accelerated retirement scheme for medical workers working with COVID-19 patients in respiratory support units. "Those people work in difficult professional and medical conditions, are the most exposed to infection and are at risk of burnout," Peović told a news conference. She said the situation could be compared with that of soldiers in the 1991-95 war whose years spent in war were recognised as double years of service. "Work in respiratory support centres and in coveralls can qualify as particularly difficult, intensive and life-threatening work," Peović…
Thursday, 18 February 2021
SDP Calls for Systematic Financing of Shelters for Domestic Violence Victims
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - The Social Democratic Party (SDP) parliamentary group has called on the government to secure systematic financing for shelters for victims of domestic violence and to finally put forward a national strategy for gender equality as Croatia has not had one since 2015. "(PM Andrej) Plenković has forgotten that slightly more than two years since the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, we still do not have shelters in each of our regions, to which the Convention obliges us," SDP MP Sabina Glasovac told a news conference in the parliament. Of the six shelters which the government…
Thursday, 18 February 2021
MP Calls for Revising List of Drugs, Adopting Rules on Cannabis Cultivation
ZAGREB, 18 February 2021 - GLAS party MP Anka Mrak Taritaš on Thursday called on Health Minister Vili Beroš to remove cannabis from the list of dangerous drugs and to adopt rules to allow the cultivation and sale of cannabis for medical purposes. Two years ago a law was adopted that formally allowed cannabis to be cultivated for medical purposes however the drug list has not been revised nor have rules been adopted to regulate that matter and without that, it is not possible to obtain a license to grow cannabis, Mrak Taritaš told a news conference in the parliament. "Let's finish this so…
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Plenković: Croatia Holds Initial Talks on Russian Vaccine, Waits for EMA's Approval
ZAGREB, 17 February 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Wednesday the government had held initial talks with the Russians on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. If that vaccine is approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), we want to be in the position to make up for the current lack of vaccines, he told the press when asked if Croatia, like Hungary, would introduce Sputnik V. Lots of cacophony concerning the Russian vaccine in the media Noting that there was lots of "cacophony" concerning the Russian vaccine in the media, Plenković said that in recent months the government had been working on ensuring sufficient…
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Ministry Issuing Food Waste Prevention Instructions for Sectors
ZAGREB, 17 February 2021 - The Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday that it had published instructions for the prevention and reduction of food waste in the retail and hospitality sectors and that similar instructions for primary production and food processing would be published by the end of the year. The instructions on the reduction of food waste in the retail sector are designed to help retailers and other sector stakeholders understand how food waste is generated and to offer solutions on how to improve operations and reduce the amount of food waste. The instructions for the hospitality sector are intended for restaurants, hotels, and canteens as…
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
HNS Member Željko Uhlir to Run for Zagreb Mayor
ZAGREB, 17 February 2021 - The head of the Zagreb branch of the Croatian People's Party (HNS), Željko Uhlir, on Wednesday announced his candidacy for Zagreb Mayor, noting that his decision had been prompted by the situation in the city, where 11 months after the earthquake no building had been reconstructed. "I can no longer watch this inaction. When I was in charge of reconstruction following the (2014) floods in the Županjska Posavina region, everything was rebuilt after 13 months. We built and renovated 2,000 houses and 40 public buildings. In Zagreb, nothing has happened after almost the same period," Uhlir said…
