Politics

ZAGREB, 2 February, 2021 - The co-presidents of the opposition Centre party, Marijana Puljak and Dalija Orešković, said on Tuesday they supported a protest announced for tomorrow by businesses closed due to coronavirus restrictions, calling on citizens to support them too and pressure the government. "Entrepreneurs feel like second-class citizens and they only want equal rules for all," Puljak told the press. She called on citizens to pressure the government into allowing bar and restaurant owners what shopping malls, petrol stations, bakeries and newsagents were allowed, saying they had a right to work. Puljak said the government considered enterprise a sin and that it…

ZAGREB, 2 February, 2021 - High Administrative Court has quashed a 2017 decision by the Conflict of Interest Commission which fined Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić after his defence attorney paid bail with his own money and Bandić was also fined for receiving donations by citizens after the 2009 presidential election. The commission fined Bandić with the maximum fine of HRK 40,000 for the bail paid by the lawyer and for donations received after the presidential election campaign was over. The commission ruled that by receiving the donations amounting to more than HRK 24.7 million that he received in 2011 and 2012, Bandić was in…

ZAGREB, 2 February, 2021 - Several civil society associations held a performance on Monday in Zagreb's main square to mark the 1st anniversary of the large protest rally against Mayor Milan Bandić, and announced that similar performances would be conducted every ten days until the local election, due to be in late May. The NGOs told the media that they wanted to recall the biggest ever protest rally held against the Zagreb mayor Bandić, which attracted more than 20,000 protesters. With the emergence of COVID-19 and the earthquake that struck Zagreb on 22 March the performances were halted, however, now that the May local…

ZAGREB, 2 February 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Monday the Italian members of the European Parliament who privately visited Croatia recently and tried to break Croatian law in order to illegally cross the Bosnian border were not an official European Parliament delegation. It was "a political move by a group of Italian Socialists," he told the press, adding that official visits were arranged via the European Parliament and that this was not the case this time. "The main rule is to respect the legal climate of the country you go to. There was neither an official delegation here nor was Croatian…

ZAGREB, 1 February 2021, 2021 - Education Minister Radovan Fuchs said on Monday that it was necessary to ensure infrastructure for introducing fill-day schooling, which is Croatia's objective in the coming period. The minister, who was visiting Varaždin County, said that the €22 billion EU Recovery Fund opened room for education and provided great opportunities for the construction of schools in Croatia. "The concept is to move towards all-day school. That requires a certain infrastructure to be built," said Fuchs underscoring that at the moment 40% of schools in Croatia work in two shifts, due to a lack of place. Introducing all-day school would…

ZAGREB, 1 February, 2021 - Social Democratic Party (SDP) vice-president Siniša Hajdaš Dončić said on Monday that amendments to the law on post-earthquake reconstruction would be adopted this week, noting that nothing important had been missed with their non-adoption due to a lack of quorum last Friday. "The amended law should be adopted this week and what happened was a normal parliamentary fight between political parties," the SDP MP said in a Croatian Radio programme. The Opposition broke the quorum on Friday, postponing a vote on the items that had been discussed after the parliament speaker refused to put on…

ZAGREB, 1 February, 2021 - The Croatian Sovereignists party started gathering signatures on Monday in order for parliament to discuss their proposal for a law on protection of life, which says that human life starts at the moment of conception.  Under the proposal, an abortion would be possible only if pregnancy poses a threat to the pregnant woman's life. The focus would be on education, counselling and prevention. "This is a chance for all those who call themselves Christian Democrats to prove that they are indeed prepared to protect human life from its conception," the party's leader Hrvoje Zekanović said in…

ZAGREB, 1 February, 2021 - The head of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County, Tomo Medved, said on Sunday that the reconstruction of the area could start in March or April. "I believe that it is realistic to expect that the reconstruction process will be launched in March or April," Medved told the HRT public broadcaster, stressing that one had to take into account aftershocks that still happened on a daily basis. "We have to be patient, wait for aftershocks to calm but until then we will complete all preparations - the…

February 1, 2021 – Miroslav Tudman, the first child of Franjo Tudman, died in Zagreb from complications caused by Coronavirus. A scientist and educator who followed a route into politics, he bore a striking resemblance to his father, the first President of Croatia Miroslav Tudjman, HDZ member of parliament and son of Franjo Tudman, the first President of Croatia, died in the evening of Sunday 31 January 2021 in Zagreb. He was 75 years old. Miroslav Tudjman had been hospitalized in Zagreb at the beginning of December due to complications caused by Coronavirus. He had been placed on a respirator.…

ZAGREB, 31 January, 2021 - A number of long-time members of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) on Saturday established a new party called the Democratic HSS, electing Mateo Ivanac and Boro Bašljan as president and vice-president. The new party said in a statement it had members in eight counties, some of whom were municipal heads, with whom it would run in local elections to be held in May. The party's founders said the reason for breaking away from the HSS was lack of intraparty democracy.