Politics

ZAGREB, 13 February, 2021 - Social Democratic Party president Peđa Grbin said on Saturday the government's latest relaxation of COVID restrictions showed its "total lack of ideas, blundering and ignorance." Speaking to the press in the Istrian resort of Poreč, Grbin said the restrictions were again being relaxed "without any criteria." "Since October, not just we from the opposition but scientists too have been warning the government that there must be certain criteria, because we all have to know on what a decision on the relaxation is being made. There have to be certain numbers or indicators." Grbin called on the government…

February the 13th, 2021 - Minister Josip Aladrovic has discussed what business owners can expect in regard to continued financial support from the Croatian Government as the country will slowly begin to ease some measures relating to the current ban on their work as of Monday. As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic has revealed how the latest easing up of Croatia's anti-epidemic measures will affect the economy and how we're dealing with the consequences of those previous closures. Josip Aladrovic commented on the easing of measures for HRT, saying that the decision was guided by lower infection figures…

ZAGREB, 12 February, 2021 - The head of Zagreb's Infectious Diseases Hospital, Alemka Markotić, confirmed on Friday that her 84-year-old mother, a chronic patient, had been vaccinated in that hospital, and when asked whether that was a case of abuse of position, she said at least one reporter had already been vaccinated. "How many times have you broken (the rules) by calling me and my colleagues, asking favours for your parents, loved ones... Both your parents and my mother and all other people who could and should have come could come to the hospital. At least one of you sitting…

February the 12th, 2021 - The fact that certain parts of Croatia, particularly Eastern Croatia, have been gradually emptying for years as the economic situation grows worse and job opportunities become more scarce, isn't something new. That trend only got worse as Croatia entered the EU in July 2013, and the Croatian emigration rate is now the second worst in the entire EU. As Novac/Kristina Turcin writes, in the period from 2015 to 2019, the population of Croatia, according to official Eurostat data, decreased by 4.26 inhabitants per 1,000 citizens only due to the concerning Croatian emigration rate, which is the…

ZAGREB, 11 February, 2021 - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Thursday that owing to the favourable epidemiological situation, hospitalisations at Zagreb's KB Dubrava were decreasing and the number of beds in intensive care for COVID-19 patients was reduced. Consequently, the need for medical staff has also decreased and conditions have been met for those temporarily assigned to KB Dubrava to return to their hospitals, he said at a cabinet meeting. The Health Ministry has launched a series of activities to care for post-COVID patients, including the establishment of an expert commission for the treatment of patients with pathologies resulting from COVID-19, Beroš said. The…

ZAGREB, 11 February, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday that as of 15 February bars would be allowed to sell everything on their menus but that their terraces, if they had them, would not reopen, the concept being that customers would order a beverage to go. Speaking to the press after a cabinet meeting, he said the details of the mild easing of COVID restrictions as of next Monday would be provided by the national COVID response team tomorrow. Plenković said the sale of coffee to go, which bars would be allowed to sell as of the 15th, did not mean…

ZAGREB, 11 February, 2021 - The Opposition on Thursday welcomed the announced relaxation of epidemiological restrictions but described it as insufficient, pointing to unequal treatment of citizens and condemning PM Andrej Plenković's statement that the easing of restrictions was a reward for citizens. Social Democrat MP Arsen Bauk said that criteria for the introduction of epidemiological restrictions were not clear but that it was good that cafes would be allowed to sell coffee to go, noting ironically and in an allusion to Zagreb University Rector Damir Boras, "If one has to buy coffee in a bakery, it is logical for the rector…

ZAGREB, 11 February, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Thursday the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine protected the elderly against death, ventilators and more serious symptoms, and that therefore there were no obstacles to administering it to people over 65. Speaking at a cabinet meeting, he said that this morning he spoke with representatives of pensioner unions and associations which demand that people over 65 are not given the AstraZeneca vaccine. Plenković told the public, notably older people, that all three COVID vaccines, Pfizer's, Moderna's and AstraZeneca's, "are 100% effective against death, against situations on ventilators and more serious symptoms."…

ZAGREB, 11 February, 2021 - Deputy Prime Minister Tomo Medved said on Thursday that 1,377 housing containers and mobile homes had been set up in Sisak-Moslavina County so far, and 391 more containers would arrive soon. Medved said in today's cabinet meeting that the construction of the container settlement in Petrinja was progressing faster than expected. "By Thursday, 81 housing containers will be set up, and the first containers will be ready to move in by the weekend," he said, adding that preparations for setting up container settlements in Glina were in progress. To date, HRK 73 million has been…

ZAGREB, 11 February, 2021 - Croatia's Gross Domestic Product is estimated to have contracted by 8.9% in 2020, while it is expected to rise at a rate of 5.3% in 2021 and 4.6% in 2022, the European Commission says in its latest Winter 2021 Economic Forecast, published on Thursday. The economy's contraction in 2020 "is mainly attributable to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on service exports, particularly tourism, which suffered greatly due to the fall in demand for air travel and the imposition of travel restrictions in many countries." Croatia's private consumption also fell, reflecting the accumulation of involuntary and…